Possession
by DreamingInColour
Summary: ASP/SM. The boys spend the summer after 5th year exploring an old manor abandoned 200 years ago with a Hogwarts school group. Albus' curiosity has him searching to uncover the manors secrets and Scorpius is forced to help if only to keep him safe.
1. School in the holidays

Hello all! Okay, I have this new story that is slowly but surely taking over my life and now I'm graciously sharing it with you.

Now I know I've been unfair to you all especially since I haven't updated To Win the Heart in ...well, months... but believe me I _am_ ashamed. Extremely ashamed. HOWEVER, the next installment is well on its way, so is another two new stories that I will release... soonish. Just know I am still writing feverishly for you all, but I'm so excited about this one I just can't keep it to myself any longer. Lex's (my beta) enthusiasm may have spurred me on to post this one too. Thanks for looking it over!

I'm trying out a new ship, its a Potter/Malfoy offspring fic. So I hope you enjoy.

The usual disclaimer (not that I really do it anymore lol everyone knows these characters aren't mine and if you don't you're an idiot). The Potter universe and its inhabitants all belong to JK Rowling and thank God for her I say! Sadly this is for my enjoyment only and I make no monies.

Enjoy.

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Chapter 1: School in the Summer holidays

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Albus Severus Potter cringed at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Everybody told him how much he looked like his father, especially people his dad went to school with, but he didn't see the resemblance. Sure he had his father's dark hair and bright green eyes, but his face was also littered with Weasley freckles and he had his mother's full pink lips. Nobody else seemed to notice this; they were too preoccupied with the idea that he was a 'little Harry'. 'He's like a little clone!' they would exclaim. Albus would try not to make his grimace too noticeable as he felt the pressure of being compared, yet again, to his famous and heroic father.

Generally he tried to escape these situations as quickly as possible in an attempt to avoid the questions that often followed. Albus was an intelligent boy and the stupidity of people who _should_ know better grated on his tolerance incredibly, but his patience and understanding never allowed him to be short with those whose idiocy couldn't be helped. Many people – more than you'd expect – thought that because he _looked_ like Harry that he must, in fact, _be _Harry. 'Do you play Quidditch for Gryffindor too?' they would ask him. Sometimes he would want to lie and say he did just so he didn't have to see their disappointed faces when he told them he'd rather bash his head against a brick wall until he was unconscious than sit through the torture of a Quidditch match.

He was similar to his father in ways only people who knew them both well could see; Albus had Harry's compassion and generosity, he inherited his selflessness, courage and concern for others. He had a big heart just like his dad and he was much happier having his heart then he would have been had he inherited his father's talent on a broomstick as his older brother James had.

As though bidden by Albus' thoughts, James appeared in the bathroom doorway. "Hey, Nerd," he said in greeting.

"Sod off," Albus groaned at his brother. James was always teasing him; he thought it was funny, but Albus thought it stopped being funny fifteen years ago.

"I can't believe you're going to _school _when you don't have to," James said, comfortably ignoring Albus' disdain.

"It's not _school_, James," Albus snapped, losing his temper immediately. Only James had that power over him, he was usually a calm person, but his brother had a unique effect on his nature. "It's an incredible opportunity!"

"No, it's the _summer holidays_," James insisted. "Going out camping with your mates in the country is _summer holidays_; some lame trip with students and _teachers _is _school_."

"It's not a _lame trip!_" Albus barked. "That house hasn't been disturbed for _two hundred years_ and _I_ get to investigate it!"

"That's just an academic cover for slave labour!" he laughed. "You'll be cleaning two hundred year old dust bunnies off the furniture!"

"James," Albus heard his mother growl unseen from out in the corridor. "You're of age now, you've just graduated Hogwarts, _why_ are you still picking on your little brother?"

"Because he constantly rises to the occasion," James smirked at Albus who frowned back at him.

"Your Uncle George is expecting you at the shop in half an hour," their mother told James, "I told him if you're late he should make you clean out the Product Testing Room again – manually."

James cringed as he remembered the last time he was subjected to that punishment – George had just been testing a new balloon bomb that was designed to explode slime, James suspected George had tested that product on purpose so the clean up was particularly nasty for him. "Yeah, alright, I'm going. See ya, Nerd, have fun at _school_," he laughed as he left Albus alone in the bathroom.

Albus grit his teeth to physically contain the nasty response he felt like shouting at James' retreating back; despite the fact that their mother was only two feet away, Albus would have contained the response anyway – he was better than that.

"Got your toothbrush, Sweetie?" Ginny asked her son. Albus gasped as he realised he'd completely forgotten why he was even in the bathroom in the first place. "Everything else is downstairs and your father is waiting for you," his mother continued.

Albus snatched up his toothbrush and raced downstairs to meet his father. "Okay, I'm ready!" he announced. "Let's go!"

Harry laughed as he watched his son bounce excitedly around the Entryway where their main fireplace was located. "Okay, Champ," he said. "Go give Mum a kiss and I'll take your bags."

Albus jogged over to his mother and wrapped her in a big hug before pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Bye, Mum," he farewelled her softly.

"Have fun, Darling," she replied, waving to her husband and her son as they disappeared through the Floo network. "I love you!"

"Love you, Mum! … The Leaky Cauldron!" he announced as he threw down his Floo powder and stepped into the flames. His father was waiting for him as he stumbled out of the grate – no matter how many times he travelled that way he didn't think he'd ever get used to it.

Professor McGonagall, his Headmistress, had said in her letter that they would meet as a group in the Conference Room at the Leaky Cauldron and would depart from there. At the end of his fifth year – only a few weeks ago – Albus had been invited to participate in this project. A young couple had inherited a centuries old manor that hadn't been lived in for nearly 200 years. The couple had no use for the house and, like its owners before them, they were simply going to let it sit. Albus wasn't exactly sure how it came about but somehow the top boy and top girl from each Hogwarts house in fifth and sixth year had been invited to explore the manor. Despite what James said, Albus didn't think of this as school, he wouldn't be getting a grade, just an amazing learning opportunity.

"Harry!" Albus heard someone call out to his father and he looked up quickly to see if he needed to make a hasty escape plan, but, to his relief, he saw the familiar red Weasley hair of his Uncle Ron. "Thank God you're here," Ron whispered as he got closer. "You can deflect attention off of me!" Albus looked up to see his usually stern looking Headmistress making her way over to them looking pleased at their arrival.

Harry rolled his eyes at Ron. He shuddered at the thought, but the two of them were nearly forty and Minerva McGonagall still made Ron as nervous as a First Year.

After greeting Professor McGonagall, Albus left the adults to chat in order to seek out his cousin Rose, Ron's daughter; she was also set to come on this trip. He spied her across the room talking to Lucinda a sixth year Gryffindor girl – one of James' numerous ex girlfriends – and, urgh! Stacey Gilbert – a fifth year Hufflepuff with such a nasty obsession with Albus that it bordered on stalking.

"Traitor," he whispered under his breath as he eyed Rose being friendly to a girl who, in all likelihood, would one day tie him unwilling to a bedpost and have her way with him.

"Who are we looking at?" a voice behind him asked in a sing-song tone.

Albus didn't need to turn around to see who it was, he knew already; Oscar Diver. Oscar was a sixth year Gryffindor and Chaser for the house Quidditch team – he was also another of Albus' admirers, but he wasn't quite as unwelcome as Stacey. Albus could feel Oscar's body pressing lightly against his own as he stood closer to him than strictly necessary. "Rose," he answered eventually.

"Are you in a fight with her?" he asked as he placed his arm around Albus' shoulders, a friendly move to the casual observer, but rather more intimate to Albus.

Oscar's thumb moved tenderly back and forth over his robes and Albus tingled under the touch. "No," he answered, willing his body not to shiver noticeably.

"Then why are you frowning at her?" Oscar asked him.

"Because she's talking to Stacey Gilbert," he explained.

"The girl who tried to break into your dorm room wearing only a trench coat and a pair of lacy black knickers?"

"Yeah, her," Albus confirmed, cringing at the memory of that night only four months earlier.

"Don't worry, Gorgeous, I'll protect you from her," Oscar assured him in a low voice. "Which one is she?"

Rose was now talking to another two girls and one of the teachers – Professor Faulkner, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, a handsome young man in his late twenties who most of the girls, and some of the boys, had a crush on. "The dirty blonde on her left in the purple robes," Albus pointed out.

"What?" Oscar gasped, pretending to be shocked. "There's nothing wrong with a nice blonde!"

Albus rolled his eyes. Tessie Glayde – universally considered the hottest chick at Hogwarts – could be standing naked in front of Oscar begging to be touched and he wouldn't even get remotely warm; the boy was unequivocally gay. "Yeah, a _nice _blonde," Albus retorted, scoffing at Oscar's sarcastic suggestion that Stacey was in any way appealing.

"What, do you mean like Malfoy?" Oscar teased. Albus coloured instantly, his cheeks glowed under a rosy blush and he heard Oscar practically purr at him. "I never did like that you passed me up for that Slytherin, but I always understood," he said.

Oscar had discovered Albus studying alone in the common room one night late last year, everyone else had gone to bed, but he couldn't sleep worrying about the Potions test they had the next day so he'd gotten up to revise for another hour longer. Oscar had never been subtle in his affections for Albus so, after months of confusion and worrying about his sexual orientation, Albus had kissed him and it was wonderful. He was unprepared for the wash of desire he felt from this small act, and the sense of freedom for finally letting go and feeling _right _for the first time in years. The experience escalated into Oscar giving Albus a life changing blowjob in his favourite squashy chair by the fireplace – there was no going back after that and he never looked at that chair the same ever again. Despite Oscar's desire to take things further, Albus found he wasn't quite ready for that and the two parted amicably and slipped back into a flirty friendship. One day, a week or so later, Oscar caught Albus staring at Scorpius Malfoy across the Great Hall over breakfast and had teased him ever since that Malfoy was the reason he resisted a relationship. It was good-natured teasing however, since both boys knew it was about more than that, but Albus was sure Oscar also knew that had it been Scorpius requesting a relationship the outcome may have been very different.

"Speak of the Devil," Oscar whispered leaning into Albus' ear and using his fingers to gently direct his gaze over to the doorway, "and the Devil shall appear."

Scorpius Malfoy stood next to his father looking like a heavenly being and for a second Albus stopped breathing.

"Oh what I'd give to have you react that way to me," Oscar whispered still leaning close to his ear, making him shiver. "I'll distract the Beast while you rescue our young Rose-bud," he offered when it became obvious that Albus was struggling to respond and he was across the room before Albus had a chance to blink.

He watched as Oscar charmed Stacey over to a seat at the conference table far from where he was standing and a good distance from Rose. Oscar was only a year older than him and he was very attractive – he had a lean, but well muscled, Quidditch body and bright hazel eyes that always seemed to be laughing despite being half covered by a delicious mop of chocolate brown hair. But he was very intense which was why Albus was so reluctant to explore his sexuality with him. He knew Oscar was comfortable with his own orientation, apparently he'd known he was gay all his life – he'd had sixteen years to get used to the idea – but Albus was only just discovering it about himself.

Before he hit puberty he hadn't given either sex much thought, he was just happy spending time with his family and friends and reading his books. As he got older, he began to wonder if it was strange that he had to _force _his interest in the girl-related conversations his roommates had, but he tried not to worry about it too much – he assumed it was because he hung out with Rose and the girls so much and it was weird talking about them that way because he knew them so well. He began to worry a little more when he found he had his own opinions on the discussions the girls had about Andy Watkins' smile or Jason Lawrence's arse and became even more concerned when the girls began _asking _his opinion on these things.

One night, the summer after his enlightening fourth year, when he was staying at Rose's house, he crawled into her bed after everyone was asleep – as they often did – and cried into her arms as she told him she'd always known he was gay, even if he hadn't. When he thought about it he began to suspect his family had known all along as well and for nearly a month he was irrationally angry that no one had thought to mention it to him; didn't they think _he _deserved to know! He remembered once, when he was in second year and James in fourth, James had very nearly been expelled for punching a fifth year Slytherin that called Albus a faggot – normally punching wasn't an expellable offence, but the boy had been standing at the top of a staircase at the time and … well, by the time he reached the bottom he had lost six teeth, had two black eyes, a broken nose, a broken wrist, a concussion, and a sprained ankle. Let's just say Albus never had much trouble with homophobes who couldn't keep their prejudiced opinions to themselves after that.

Even though it was obvious to everyone else, somehow the realisation that he was gay took Albus a little off guard, and he was still unsure about it. He knew he would need someone he felt much more than just desire for explore it with him and, in some way, he was sure his friend knew that, which is why he was able to be so relaxed about Albus' rejection; Oscar didn't love him, he lusted for him and that was all. Albus' big heart required careful handling and he wanted to be loved not fucked, especially for his first time. That being said, he wouldn't say no to another kiss or two with Oscar Diver.

"Argh," Rose groaned in frustration as he walked up to her. "Someone needs to tell that psycho Stacey Gilbert that you're g-"

"ROSE!" Albus shouted a little too loudly. The whole room looked up at them, including Scorpius Malfoy, and Albus felt his blood rush to warm his cheeks.

"Well, she's trying to talk to me about you and before Oscar pulled her away from me I was dangerously close to using the Tongue-Tying hex just to shut her up!"

Albus laughed at the image that weaved into his mind and then winced as he noticed Stacey was still staring at him. "One day she's going to do something truly scary," he said only half-joking.

"What? Climbing into your dorm room naked wasn't scary enough for you?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"She didn't get all the way in and she wasn't _naked_," he huffed. That memory was terrifying enough for him; he didn't need Rose exaggerating the circumstances.

"Oh right, the knickers, I forgot," she replied dryly. "Whatever. It's not important, what _is_ important is Sexy Oscar Diver," she said changing the subject and describing Oscar as sexy like it was written on his birth certificate. "He's _so _into you Allie, what the hell are you waiting for?"

Albus sighed. He might be a sensitive, emotional sap just waiting for love, but Rose was not. She was a bookworm, definitely, but she was one of those sexy librarian type bookworms that turn out to be a secret dominatrix at home – not that she was a dominatrix, but she knew more about sex, first hand, than her father would be comfortable with. "I dunno," he said reluctantly, he didn't want to explain it to her because he wasn't sure she'd understand; she might just tell him he was being silly. Sex wasn't emotional to her; it was fun and necessary for a healthy, well-balanced lifestyle. Still, sometimes he thought it would be easier to think like Rose did, just get it out of the way and enjoy it with whomever. "It just doesn't feel right," he said quietly, knowing he just wasn't that kind of guy.

"How could it not feel right?" she asked shocked; Rose knew him very well, but they hadn't talked much about sex or relationships, that fell under the 'talking-about-his-sexuality' category and he'd steadfastly avoided that so far. "The guy looks like he fell out of Spunk Magazine, and don't even look at me like that Albus Potter, I've been in your room, I've seen your stash," she whispered quietly, barely taking a breath.

Albus' mouth fell open as he realised it had been Rose who'd stolen his favourite edition of Spunk magazine from the pile he kept hidden underneath dirty clothes in the back of his closet – the one with practically nude photos and profiles of the wizarding world's most eligible gay bachelors. But before he could properly accuse her he noticed their fathers walking over to where they stood as McGonagall began to gather all the students to the large table in the middle of the room.

"Hey, Champ! Uncle Ron and I are off, we got out of work for part of the morning, but if we're too long the boss might fire us," he said with a playful wink. Harry was, in fact, 'the boss'. He'd been Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for nearly seven years now and there was serious talk about making him Minister. He leaned in and kissed his son's silky hair and then did the same to his niece, pulling her into a big hug. "Rosie, beautiful as always, just like your mother," he told her with a smile.

Ron gave his daughter a hug and kiss before wrapping his arm around Albus' shoulders. "Right, you kids have fun," he said. "Albus, I expect you to take care of my little girl, if anything happens I'm blaming you," he laughed, but Albus knew he wasn't kidding.

"Course I will, Uncle Ron," he assured him honestly. "No worries, she'll be just fine."

Harry hurried them off to join their classmates and he and Ron disappeared back to the fireplace where they would Floo back to the Ministry.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming," Professor McGonagall began as Albus and Rose took their seats. "This is a wonderful opportunity for some independent learning, you'll have the chance to engage with a variety of magical creatures who've taken up residence in the house and you'll gain a rare insight into the lifestyle of nineteenth century witches and wizards. Now, the manor has been given the once over by several Hogwarts teachers so you won't be dealing with anything you're not equipped to handle."

There was a light hum around the room; some students were pleased to hear this and others were not. Albus let his eyes sweep the room to gauge everyone's reaction; Oscar winked at him as he glanced up and he quickly looked away, his gaze settling finally on Scorpius Malfoy who looked focused, if unimpressed, on McGonagall's speech.

"Okay, this morning I'll go over the rules of the trip, then we'll get into some fun activities that Professor Kettleburn and Professor Faulkner will lead. After that we'll have some morning tea before I assign you all buddies and then we can head off," McGonagall stated, drawing back his attention.

Albus tried to focus on her instructions as his Headmistress went through the structure of their trip, but he couldn't seem to concentrate. His mind kept drifting back to the rather alarming fact that he was about to spend the next six weeks in very close quarters to his stalker, his flirtatious admirer, and his crush.

He sighed.

Thank God for Rose.

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I've decided that I'm going to keep these chapters short, rather than letting myself indulge making you wait months for an 18 page chapter as I've been known to do. Short and frequent is the idea here.

Let me know what you think. Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	2. Clashing horns

Hello again! Thanks for all the brilliant reviews! I have Chapter 2 here for you.

Enjoy.

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Chapter 2: Clashing horns

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"Right, Fifth years go with Professor Faulkner and Sixth years to Professor Kettleburn," Professor McGonagall announced after she'd finished outlining the rules for the trip. She had identified the standard rules; respect others, respect yourself, treats others how you'd have them treat you. But she also went over rules specific for this trip; to remember the items in this house _did _belong to someone and they were to be treated with care, the Ministry had granted the students the use of their wands for this trip and normal Hogwarts rules applied. There was nothing Albus didn't already know from his common sense, something so many others seemed not to have.

Albus and Rose went over to Professor Faulkner who was waiting by the door. Scorpius soon joined them along with Katie Simms from Slytherin, Hugh Daines and Fiona Thumper from Ravenclaw, and John Green and Stacey Gilbert from Hufflepuff. When the group had gathered together, Professor Faulkner led them all into a separate room. Stacey tried to slink up to Albus and walk close beside him, but Rose rather cleverly positioned him snugly between the wall and herself so Stacey was forced to walked behind him which he was probably just as uncomfortable about, to tell the truth. They walked along at a steady pace and just as they reached the door they were to enter Stacey gave Albus a hard pinch on the bum and he yelped loudly spinning to face her suggestive smile. He quickly turned around and hurried into the room to sit down where his bottom would be protected by a seat.

The room had another table in the centre surrounded by chairs, but it was much smaller than the conference table they had just been sitting around. Everyone took a seat, as Albus had already done, and unfortunately he found himself stuck next to his diligent stalker who pulled her chair uncomfortably close to him.

"Don't get comfortable folks," Faulkner announced cheerfully and Albus sighed with relief. "Boys at this end of the table, girls at the other end. This is a decision-making exercise. In front of you you'll find a list of occupations. Imagine you're in the middle of the ocean and your ship is sinking fast, you have one lifeboat and only room for eight people. Who is allowed in the boat and who is left to drown? You have twenty minutes and I want the list of people who will survive and reasons why you chose them and why you left the others to die."

By the time Faulkner had explained the rules Albus had settled into a chair between John and Hugh, carefully avoiding sitting next to Scorpius for fear the physical closeness would prompt uncontrolled blushing; plus the view was better from here.

"Okay, let's have a look at the list," Hugh prompted, snatching up the parchment to read it aloud to the group.

"Well, we have to keep the Healer, obviously, what if someone gets sick?" John suggested, once they'd all heard the list of occupations.

"I think we'd have to consider their skill base, I mean a Healer might know what he was doing with the right kinds of potions and a sterile bed, but how would they cope on an island without all their equipment," Scorpius challenged, playing the Devil's Advocate.

"Well, they'd have a wand, a Healer can do a lot with a wand," Albus replied, backing up John.

"Potter, _I _can do a lot with a wand," Scorpius scoffed. "If someone else has first aid knowledge we should keep them instead so then we'd have two sets of skills to work with."

"That's fair," Hugh agreed. "What about the Military trained person? They're taught first aid aren't they?"

"Yeah, but first aid is different to Healer training," Albus argued. "First aid is basic care, what if something more serious comes up."

"If something more serious comes up, they're fucked anyway; we're on a deserted island!" Scorpius bit back. "The army dude can provide the medical care."

"What do we need an army guy for?" John asked with a furrowed brow. "In case we come across a war?" he laughed.

Scorpius rolled his eyes and huffed at the Hufflepuff's question, clearly thinking it was stupid.

Albus glared at Scorpius to reprimand his rudeness. "The Military are taught basic training and survival skills, the Military guy is a must on the lifeboat," he explained gently. "With him and the mother and child, we've got five spaces left and several useful occupations."

"Wait, the mum and her kid?" Scorpius exclaimed sitting up from his lounging position in his chair.

"Yes, we can't leave them to drown," Albus said as though it were obvious.

"Yes we _can_," Scorpius retorted. "They serve no purpose; they'd only be a burden."

"A _mother _and her _baby_?" Albus gasped completely shocked. "You'd leave them to drown?"

"This is about survival, Potter! Besides it doesn't say 'baby' it says 'child', you don't know how old it is," Scorpius argued.

"Would it make a difference if the child was older or younger?" Professor Faulkner interrupted, after overhearing the discussion. He'd been hovering over with the girls and had just drifted back.

"Not really, they would still be of no use to the rest of the group," Scorpius answered. Professor Faulkner nodded and then wandered back to observe the girls. Albus frowned in disgust at Scorpius' declaration that he'd leave the mother and child to die. "Personally, I think the hooker serves more purpose than the mother and her kid," Scorpius declared with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Sex is a stress relief."

Albus had never had anyone else work him up the way James could. Scorpius had always kept a low profile at Hogwarts, he'd never made too much trouble – not like his father, according to Uncle Ron – but today it seemed he was fishing for Albus' anger and Albus was biting. "That's disgusting!" he screeched, despite himself, standing from his chair to challenge Scorpius, looming over him.

John looked horrified at the prospect of a fight and he seemed to want to sink into his chair, especially when Scorpius stood to meet Albus' height. Scorpius had a satisfied smile pulling at his mouth and Albus struggled to contain the anger he felt boiling in his chest.

"Is there a problem here boys?" Faulkner asked seriously as he stalked up to them.

"Yeah, Potter, is there a problem?" Scorpius taunted, his bright blue eyes shining with excitement.

"No, Sir," Albus stated addressing Professor Faulkner. He released a deep breath and slumped as he felt the tension leave his shoulders; slowly he sat down eyeing Scorpius closely, who quickly followed suit and took his own chair.

"I'm glad to hear that because you two are pairing up for the six weeks we're at the manor," Faulkner smiled and Albus' mouth fell open in horror; not only had he had his first argument with the boy he'd admired from afar for the last year or so, he'd just been bound to him for the next six weeks. Scorpius, on the other hand, seemed to find this particularly amusing and he grinned openly, which only unnerved Albus further.

"Excellent," Scorpius said, giving Albus one of the most beautiful grins he'd ever received.

Albus tried to sink into his chair like John had, but just like John, it didn't work. No matter how hard he wished he were elsewhere, he still found himself sitting across from Scorpius Malfoy who looked triumphant, like he'd just gotten straight 'O's on his O.W.L.S.

-

The manor was huge and the Portkeys took them right to the front courtyard. The exterior was exposed stone that was clearly beautiful in its prime, but now looked old and worn. There manor boasted two floors with large windows set into almost every possible surface of the house, but most were covered inside by heavy drapes. The house was shaped like a H with front and rear courtyards surrounded by rooms on three sides.

"Wow," Rose breathed, her eyes widely absorbing the magnitude of the house. "How did this just sit here for so long?" she asked.

"Well, the house has the standard muggle repelling charms on it that have been reinforced by the owners as it changed hands through the family, but it seems none of the family members have ever had any use for it," Professor Kettleburn explained. "So here it stands, undisturbed, for you all to indulge your curiosity," she smiled.

"Shall we go in?" Professor McGonagall suggested.

The group of sixteen students, four from each house, and their three professors, entered the manor for the first time. "Take a good look around everyone," Professor Faulkner announced. "This will be your home for the next few weeks. Boys, if you'll all follow me I'll show you to your rooms and girls if you'll follow Professor Kettleburn."

Albus threw Rose a helpless smile as she was pulled in the opposite direction and he steeled himself for being alone with Scorpius – well, not exactly alone, but it seriously felt like it. He had hung back and let Scorpius walk a few metres ahead of him, so he could control the distance between them, when he felt a hand snake around his waist and pull him firmly into a warm, hard body; perhaps, he wasn't so alone after all.

"May I offer my congratulations, you devious little thing you," Oscar whispered into his ear, his tone was light and amused. "Snagged Malfoy as your buddy I hear. Lucky boy… _Him_, not you," he winked and Albus rolled his eyes. "So are you planning on being a good _buddy_ to him?"

"Would you lay off?" Albus groaned, but he didn't try and escape Oscar's hold on him; after the morning he'd had, it felt kind of nice.

The boys were to be separated into two rooms, Fifth years and Sixth years, and somehow Albus ended up sleeping in the bed next to Scorpius with the other two boys on the opposite side of the room. The rooms had been all set up, crisp white sheets made up the beds and the stone floors had been covered in several new rugs.

"Not as bad as I expected," Hugh commented and Albus nodded in agreement.

"Still, not like it would have been in its prime," Scorpius observed. Albus rolled his eyes at the comment; he'd heard about the grandeur Scorpius was used to and he had no doubt the boy was comparing. "Don't look at me like that, Potter," Scorpius demanded. "I only meant it was a shame they let it get run down like this."

"Wait until you see the rest of the house," Faulkner commented as he swept into the room.

"Can we check it out?" Scorpius asked looking mildly interested.

"Not just yet," Faulkner said, shaking his head. "There's still some things Professor McGonagall wants to go over with you about the house and some equipment you might need, depending on what you come across. Oh, and I believe Professor Kettleburn is going to go over some of the resources – books and things – we have brought here for you to refer to."

Scorpius nodded lightly and tried to smile, he didn't look too bothered that they couldn't explore the house just yet, but Albus could tell he was about as pleased about the extra 'information sessions' as the rest of them were.

-

"What's your problem, Malfoy?" Albus asked with a tired and frustrated sigh later that night. Scorpius and Albus had been given the task of clearing the dinner dishes – actually, Scorpius had been given the task and, as his buddy, Albus was required to help.

"Nothing," Scorpius stated, but his scowl indicated otherwise.

"Okay, whatever," Albus shrugged, not wanting too look like he cared too much about Scorpius' bad mood. He was already having difficulty not openly staring at his flawless physique, beautiful features and the halo of blonde hair framing his face.

The rest of the afternoon had been dull, but necessary, Albus thought. By the time the professors had finished talking to them about everything they might need, what they were and weren't allowed to do, or where they were and weren't allowed to go, Albus was exhausted.

They had been given an hour to relax before their evening meal and, as he wasn't allowed in the girls room and – still embarrassed by their altercation – was trying to avoid Scorpius as much as possible, Albus spent it lounged on Oscar's bed listening to Rose and Oscar argue about which Quidditch team was going to top the league this year as Oscar lazily fingered the hem of Albus' robes. Albus was a little unsettled by this action, but he was so used to Oscar's casual touches he just let it go. Scorpius had come in to collect him for dinner and had been cold to him ever since.

Scorpius loudly exhaled a deep breath. "It's not your fault, okay, I'm just not used to being alone," he said finally.

"But you're an only child," Albus said, genuinely confused at Scorpius' admission; he'd grown up alone, hadn't he?

As soon as Scorpius frowned, Albus knew he'd been careless with his words and hurt the boy. He could almost literally _see_ the walls being built up around him in that moment. "Forget it," he hissed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that," Albus gushed trying to explain himself so the Slytherin might see he wasn't trying to be cruel. "It's just I'm feeling the same thing, I'm not used to being so alone either, but I've always had my brother and sister and all my cousins and my friends around me."

"I have _friends_," Scorpius growled, clearly even more offended now than he had been before. "I have family, I have _cousins_ too!"

"I know that, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" Albus said, quickly becoming panicked at the thought his words had just hurt somebody else.

"Just _shut up_, would you?" Scorpius snapped. "It's bad enough I'm stuck with you for the next six weeks!"

"Hey! Back off, Malfoy!" Albus heard Oscar spit loudly at Scorpius as he stepped up behind them.

"Oh right, of course, _the boyfriend_," Scorpius scoffed, "I almost forgot about you. Yeah, _so alone _aren't you, poor thing," he mocked Albus. "You only have your cousin and your boyfriend here with you!"

"Malfoy…" Albus sighed, his heart tightening in his chest.

"You and Romeo just _piss off,_ okay? I'll finish this by myself," he instructed them harshly.

"Come on, Albus," Oscar said gently, glaring at Scorpius and grabbing Albus by the elbow to lead him out of the makeshift kitchen.

"No," Albus said firmly, pulling out of Oscars hold. "I'm supposed to stay and help."

"Albus, come on, he doesn't want you here," Oscar pleaded.

"Yeah, just get out of here," Scorpius told him.

"No. You should go, Oscar, I need to stay here," he repeated, picking up a plate to spell clean.

"Give me that!" Scorpius demanded, grabbing at the plate in Albus' hands. "Just go!"

"No! Stop pulling at it!" Albus shouted as Scorpius tried to yank the plate away, but he refused to let go. "You're going to break it! Let go!"

"You let go!"

"Albus!" Oscar cried out, watching helplessly as the two boys fought over the dirty plate.

"Get out of here, Oscar!" Albus demanded, turning to look at him for just a second.

Albus' concentration wavered long enough for Scorpius to give the plate another harsh tug so that he was able to successfully pull it free from Albus' grasp. The Gryffindor lost his footing and crashed to the floor with a screech, grabbing for Scorpius as he did and pulling him down too. The plate went flying up into the air and shattered on the stone floor with a loud crash.

"What is all this racket?" Professor McGonagall demanded loudly as she stormed into the little kitchen they had fashioned for themselves since the Manor's kitchen was currently inhabited by a range of unknown magical pests.

Oscar looked on with wide eyes at the position Albus and Scorpius had ended up in; Scorpius had cushioned Albus' fall and landed with his back on the hard stone floor, Albus was lying on top of him their bodies flush against each other – face to face, chest to chest, hip to hip – except Albus' leg which had slipped suggestively between Scorpius'. As he absorbed the intimacy of the arrangement of limbs, Oscar couldn't hide his smile; he could imagine how Albus was feeling and he found a deep hilarity in the possibility that he was fighting off an erection right now.

Scorpius looked horrified at first, but, upon seeing Oscar's contained laughter in his smiling pursed lips, he began to laugh too. Albus had not attempted to get off him yet, but he didn't seem to care, his laughter rang joyfully through the room and shook his whole body. It was infectious and Albus didn't try to fight it, as mortified as he was to find Scorpius Malfoy pinned underneath him shaking with laughter, he couldn't stop himself from joining in.

"This is not in the least bit funny," McGonagall frowned sternly. "Albus Potter get off him at once! You were both behaving childishly and now you've broken something that belongs to _everybody_!"

"I'm sorry, Professor McGonagall, but it's easily fixed," Albus reminded her after he'd collected himself from off of Scorpius and was standing upright again. He pointed his wand at the plate and repaired it quickly; it was perfect, as though it had never been broken.

"That's hardly the point," McGonagall huffed. "You are both nearly of age now, you should be more mature, _particularly _when you are working as a member of a team. That's what this morning's exercise was about, learning to talk to each other and _listen _to each other and discuss things properly like civilised human beings! Although, I was informed you didn't manage to do very well then either!"

Albus looked down at his shoes in shame; he no longer found any of this funny, but his skin still flushed at the memory of how close he just was to Scorpius. Still, Minerva McGonagall was not just his Headmistress, she was also a very close friend of his fathers; Harry would be most displeased with him about this.

"Tomorrow morning you will have the pleasure of cleaning out one of the studies, it has been infested with Doxies," McGonagall informed Albus and Scorpius. "You will both work in there until it is cleared and you've learned what it means to behave like a _responsible adult_." McGonagall turned on her heel and walked out of the room, leaving Oscar to give them both sympathetic glances before he followed her out.

Well, shit.

* * *

Shit indeed.

I've actually played that Survival game I talked about, its quite fun particularly if you get someone that throws in something controversial just for the heck of it like Scorpius did. Of course, traditionally theres no children on the boat, just doctors, lawyers, accountants, social workers (of course! yay!), army dudes etc.

Not that you care. lol.

Okies, review if it pleases you, it certainly pleases me :D


	3. The Sliding Panel

Here's another edition of Possession! This time you see a bit more of Scorpius! Now who doesn't love that!? Nobody I know.

Enjoy xo

* * *

Chapter 3: The sliding panel

* * *

Albus had shared bedrooms with several different people; he found it was inevitable when one had a large family like he did. Christmases at the Burrow were chaotic with kids practically sleeping on top of one another, even the adults had to share sometimes, no one got any privacy, but none of them would have had it any other way. So Albus had endured his fair share of snorers, violent sleepers, sleep talking and sleep walking, but _none _of thathad been as terrible as Hugh Daines, the fifth year Ravenclaw boy sleeping in the bed opposite him. He was surprised the boy could breathe at all the way he snored; in fact, he was surprised the whole manor hadn't crumbled down around them from the vibrations.

He had been trying to fall back to sleep for nearly twenty minutes before he gave in and decided sleeping in the garden would be better than trying to sleep here. Albus crawled out of bed and padded quietly to the door, clutching his pillow to his chest, to see if he could find somewhere more peaceful to sleep. He was out in the hallway before he realised he had been followed.

"That boy sounds like a dying troll," Scorpius announced sounding amused, once they were outside of the room.

"Um, yeah," Albus blinked, he was a bit surprised that Scorpius had followed him out and he didn't really know what to say. He hugged his pillow tighter as he noticed that Scorpius was only clad in a very thin pair of dark green pyjama bottoms and he fought not to look bashful at the blonde's state of undress.

"I'm sorry; did you want to be alone?" Scorpius asked, almost snapping, he was clearly pissed off that Albus hadn't responded more positively to his friendly comment.

"What? No, I, um, you can stay," Albus stammered, starting to panic that he'd said the wrong thing again.

Scorpius took a deep breath and ran his hand through his heavenly locks. "I was thinking that we should talk. I mean we are 'buddies', we should as least _try _to get along, don't you think?" he said, staring firmly at the ground, as though he thought Albus might refuse.

"Uh, sure," Albus agreed, not really sure what the boy wanted to talk about, but willing all the same. "Did you mean now?"

"Well, I doubt either of us will be sleeping any time soon," Scorpius joked.

"Of course, shall we go to the common area?" Albus suggested and with a quick nod from Scorpius the two boys made their way to the collection of soft couches and chairs set up for the students to socialise together. Neither said a word as they walked both remaining silent in their anxiety.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Albus apologised, breaking the silence. "I really didn't mean it. Sometimes when I say things they come out wrong, you have to understand I'd never mean to hurt you."

"Wouldn't you?" Scorpius asked skeptically.

"No! I would never!" he replied viciously defending the gentle nature he was so proud of.

"I've often wondered what you thought of me," Scorpius admitted. The room was dimly lit under the glow of three single candles and Scorpius found it much easier to talk in the dark; he could pretend he was alone.

Albus blushed, but thankfully his crush couldn't see. "I haven't ever really thought about you," Albus lied. "You don't say much, you're so quiet in class unless you're called upon and we've never worked together on anything so..."

"I like to keep a low profile, most of the Slytherins do, especially kids like me," he said.

"What do you mean kids like you?" Albus asked genuinely confused.

"Kids from – from-" Scorpius sounded like he was having difficulty speaking.

"What?" Albus questioned softly.

"-from – _dark_ families," Scorpius finished.

"Oh," Albus breathed finally understanding why Scorpius had so much trouble confessing that piece of information – although Albus already knew, _everybody _knew.

"Yeah, we get enough negative attention as it is, it's easier just to become part of the scenery," Scorpius explained.

"I see," Albus said, his wide eyes reflecting the soft glow of the candlelight. He felt like he should confess something back so that they were even, but he wasn't sure what to say.

"So you don't _hate _me then?"

"No, I don't hate you," Albus assured him. "My father, he always told me that I should judge people as I find them, not as others find them, or because they come from a particular place or a particular family."

"I'm sure your father wasn't referring to me when he said that," Scorpius scoffed. "Your father and my father were enemies at school, they hated each other."

"He was talking about _everyone _when he said that! Even you," Albus told the Slytherin firmly. "My father may have hated yours in school, but that doesn't mean he _still _does and it doesn't mean he hates you or wants me to hate you. I wouldn't even if he did!"

"You wouldn't?"

"No."

"Why not?" Scorpius asked curiously, surprised that Albus suggested he would go so far as to defy his father if it was necessary, just to not hate him even though he knew nothing about him.

"Did your father tell you to hate me?" Albus countered, not really wanting to explain his attraction to the beautiful blonde.

"He told me to watch out for you," Scorpius answered honestly. "He explained what I should expect when I came to Hogwarts, he told me what people would think of me and said that you and your family might be particularly cruel."

"Why would he say that?" Albus asked, shocked that someone would think his family cruel.

"He said he and your father and your uncle and aunt were rivals, he said he teased them and when he was a – a – when he worked for – um, yeah – well, he said he hurt your family the most out of everyone," Scorpius whispered painfully into the still night air. He was clearly ashamed of his father's past mistakes and Albus' heart warmed to him even more. "He thought you might take it out on me and he wanted me to be prepared."

"I never would have done that," Albus replied quietly. "James might have, he spent a lot of time with Uncle George especially the last few years, my Uncles aren't as compassionate as my father, they see things in black and white mostly."

"And how do you see things?" Scorpius asked curiously. He was starting to feel much better about having Albus Potter as his partner for this field trip; he thought it might be difficult because of their parents' past, but apparently not.

"Shades of grey," Albus answered simply and Scorpius nodded his understanding. "What shall we do about Daines' snoring? At this rate we will never get a good night's sleep."

"Smother him with a pillow?"

* * *

"Why are you two so grumpy this morning?" Hugh Daines asked as both Albus and Scorpius shot him killer glares the next morning. "If you're not looking forward to cleaning out those Doxies you should never have had a silly argument over a stupid _plate_," he reprimanded them.

"You hold him down and I'll strangle him until he stops moving," Scorpius said dryly looking over to Albus.

"What?" Hugh huffed.

"Neither of us got a wink of sleep last night. You snore like a – what did you call him?" Albus asked looked back to Scorpius.

"A dying troll," Scorpius replied helpfully.

"Yes, a dying troll," Albus repeated. "A troll dying a very slow and painful death, but a death that, unfortunately for the rest of us, _doesn't _affect your lung capacity."

"Alright, I get it!" Hugh whined. "I snore!"

"You need to stop or I'm going to smother you with my pillow," Scorpius threatened. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night and his body ached from exhaustion making him more on edge than usual.

"Why don't you cast a Silencing Bubble charm that would create a perimeter around my bed and contain my snoring?" Hugh suggested.

"Fuckin' Ravenclaws," Scorpius muttered before stalking off to breakfast; he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of that himself.

* * *

Albus cringed inside his own protective bubble as he shook the heavy curtains once more. Scorpius was armed with a spray gun full of Doxycide that he was using to douse the little monsters as they hid up in the curtains. It was Albus' job to shake them out of the drapes if they didn't fall freely and collect their frozen bodies and place them inside the cages before they unfroze. Professor Faulkner was going to milk them of their venom for Professor Gibson the Potions Master to use as ingredients, before he 'disposed of them'.

They had been at this painful task for nearly an hour and Albus was almost positive that they'd gotten all they were going to get out of the curtains and they would now have to search the room for the ones that escaped the gassing Scorpius was giving them.

"That's enough here, don't you think?" Albus said after he'd collected four little bodies from the ground and placed them inside the metal cage. "I think we'll have more luck under the desk and behind the bookshelves." Scorpius nodded in agreement and they began work on other areas of the study.

The room was very large and elegantly decorated – at least it would have been back in its day – and Scorpius suggested it was likely to be one of the manors main studies; whoever used this room was an important member of the family that lived here. There was a large desk by the window that was covered in dust, it had several grooves in the top which once looked to secure an ink pot and several quills, and there were two chests of drawers, one on either side of the desk's occupant, with four draws in each. Bookshelves wrapped around the room from floor to ceiling and they were stocked wall to wall, except three, which instead displayed small trinkets and yellowed photos that didn't move.

Albus had to crawl down on his hands and knees to reach under the desk and retrieve the frozen Doxies, which he did successfully, but while he was down there he noticed something odd about one of the wall panels. The walls were painted cream from waist-height up, but the lower half was decorated with square wall panels just over a metre high.

"Scorpius!" Albus called the Slytherin over. "Look at this."

Scorpius came over to the wall and knelt down to get a better look at what Albus was showing him. "I don't get it, it's only some scratches," he said, raising his eyebrows quizzically.

Albus ran his finger over the deep, long horizontal scratches in the wall panel; there were hundreds of them, some deeper than others and they dented the panel all down its left side. "How do you think it happened?" he curiously asked Scorpius' opinion.

"Who cares?" the Slytherin shrugged. He got back up on to his feet to cross the room and retrieve his Doxy poison. "Let's do behind the bookshelves then go have some lunch. The ones we missed will hide back up in the curtains again and we can get them this afternoon."

Albus didn't move from his position on the floor. "I think it moves," he said, almost to himself, but Scorpius overheard.

"What?"

"I think this panel moves," Albus repeated a little louder. "Come and see. If this panel to the left of the scratches moved over this damaged one, it could have made those deep scrapes."

"Look, not to dampen your fascination or anything, but seriously, _who cares_?" Scorpius insisted, looking over what the Gryffindor showed him carelessly. "Can't we just finish this and go get something to eat?"

Albus barely heard him as he focused on this unusual find. He placed both his hands flat on the wall panel to the left of the long marks and seemingly tried to push it to the right. The panel didn't move and from the frustrated look on Albus' face, clearly he expected it to, and so he tried again.

"What the hell are you doing?" Scorpius demanded.

"Don't you see?" Albus huffed in aggravation. "This moves. It _opens_."

"What do you mean it _opens_?" Scorpius asked warily.

"I mean this panel slides over and opens on to something, I'm sure of it," Albus declared, his green eyes bright with curiosity and excitement.

"All the more reason to leave it alone," Scorpius warned him cautiously. "You don't know what's behind there."

"I'm sure it's nothing dangerous," Albus said as he waved off Scorpius' concern. "The family that lived here wasn't dark, I doubt Professor McGonagall would have allowed us to explore the manor if they were. Aren't you curious?"

"Not as curious as you are," Scorpius smirked. "Dark or not, it's been two hundred years or more since anyone has been in there, anything could have happened in that time."

"I just want to see if I can open it, I won't go inside or anything," Albus said seriously. "I bet it's locked by magic, wouldn't it be cool if we could crack the spells keeping it locked. We could unlock it and then get Professor Faulkner to see if we can explore it."

Scorpius sighed. "Potter," he protested tiredly.

"Come on, lighten up, I'm not suggesting we do anything dangerous, just something fun," Albus reasoned. "I bet the others have been doing cool stuff all day while we've been stuck in here spraying Doxies."

"Where would we even start?" Scorpius asked doubtfully.

"My Uncle George taught me this spell last summer to detect what was protecting an item or a door," Albus explained as he pulled out his wand. "_Guardenium Relevelio._"

"Why would your Uncle teach you that spell? We aren't even allowed to use magic over the summer," Scorpius reminded him incredulously.

"Well, James had stolen my journal and-"

"Potter, that panel is glowing blue," Scorpius gasped in shock.

"Blue. Okay," Albus whispered thoughtfully. "What was blue again? Oh right, a password!" he declared.

"A password?"

"Oh damn, _a password_," Albus sighed. "They're the hardest to crack; you practically have to get the person who set the password to reveal what it is because it could be anything."

"And I'm guessing that person is long dead by now," Scorpius shrugged. "Sorry, Potter, I guess you'll never know."

"I guess not," Albus sighed in disappointment.

"Can we get on with clearing these Doxies now?" Scorpius requested. "I wanted to finish spraying behind the bookshelves before we head off to lunch. We're already going to be in here doing this again tomorrow."

"Okay, sure," Albus nodded as he got up from his position in front of the mystery wall panel.

He knew it was impossible to crack that password and open the secret door, but he knew the possibilities of what lay behind there would be on his mind for the rest of the night.

* * *

Anybody else pondering what might be behind that door? I'd love to hear some theories!

Until next time x


	4. Love letters

There you go lovelies, another chapter for you!

Major thanks to Lex for betaing this for me and serious apologises for not thanking her for the last two chapters. Serious and unforgivable oversight. But she knows I'd just keel over a die without her, she is brilliance personified, but you all know that anyways, you guys aren't stupid.

Anyhooo, on with the show.

* * *

Chapter 4: Love letters

* * *

Albus and Scorpius had managed to rid the large, dusty study of most of the Doxies, but not all, as Scorpius had said, they would have to return the next day to finish clearing the room. For now though, both boys were permitted to relax and enjoy their evening; they were not required to cook or clean up since they had done so the night before, even if they _had_ gotten trouble for their antics.

They joined the other students who were all lounging about on the soft chairs and bean bags in the common area chatting about their day and their various finds. Rose was doing some fact checking about an old mirror she discovered that seemed to show glimpses of an unknown garden and she was occasionally running her various theories by Albus, but he couldn't seem to give her the attention she required. Albus' mind was still back in that study with the secret door; the possibilities of what lay behind it were endless. He imagined some kind of treasure or perhaps a long lost volume of books that held the secrets of wizarding life. He wondered what an old, wealthy and respected wizarding family could have to hide.

"Albus, are you even listening to me?" Rose huffed. She sounded annoyed, but Albus didn't notice.

"Huh?" he replied dumbly.

"What is bothering you?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing," he assured her. "It's nothing really. I think I might go for a walk, just to clear my head."

"Okay, well, don't go too far," she warned him and he nodded before getting up and leaving the others to themselves.

As he walked he thought about all the ways he might be able to decipher that password to get through the wall panel. Was it possible to bypass the password? That would depend on the strength of the magic that held it in place, but surely after two centuries the magic would have significantly weakened. He mused over this as he wandered and he paid little attention to his surroundings, so when Stacey Gilbert came up behind him and roughly pinned him to the wall he was taken completely by surprise.

"I wondered when we'd finally get to be alone together," she purred into his ear.

"What?" he gasped, surprised and frightened of the position he was now in.

"You and me finally _alone _together, I wondered when you'd finally arrange it," she whispered suggestively leaning into his body, trapping him against the wall.

"I arranged it?" he asked, now thoroughly confused.

"I know," she giggled. "You've been staring at me all evening and when you got up to leave I just knew you meant me to follow."

"Look, Stacey, I think you have the wrong idea," Albus said quickly, suddenly feeling very claustrophobic. "I never meant for you to follow me, I-" But he couldn't continue because he found his mouth unwillingly occupied by Stacey's as she kissed him fiercely.

* * *

Scorpius had been returning to the common room from the boys' toilet when he spotted Albus walking towards him. He'd been fighting his attraction to the small ebony haired boy since he'd first set eyes on him when they were eleven and he was the only reason Scorpius had agreed to this ridiculous trip. Scorpius' family was an ancient pureblood line and he didn't need to participate in some scavenging trip through an old manor to learn what life was like back then; his family had kept journals and artefacts for centuries, he knew most things already.

His father had never hidden anything from him, mostly because there was no point and he preferred Scorpius to have heard the truth from him rather than the lies and exaggerations he would hear from others. From when he was about nine years old his bedtime stories became tales about his father, his grandfather, Harry Potter and the Dark Lord. By the time Scorpius reached Hogwarts he was under no misapprehension that his family was innocent of being involved in the war, but he understood better than most the regret his father felt about the decisions he made. He was embarrassed at first at his family's dirty history and dreading his time at the school after his father had told him he may not be welcomed there, but when he spied Albus with his father at King's Cross looking just as anxious, he didn't feel quite so bad.

Once he was old enough to understand it, he started to suspect that Albus Potter – like himself – was gay, and the rumour ripped through Hogwarts like a tornado when James Potter nearly killed Geoffrey Lyons for suggesting it; it was as though that violent act was a confirmation. While the idea thrilled him, Scorpius still doubted very much that he had a chance with Albus; after all, they were still Potter and Malfoy, Gryffindor and Slytherin -Montague and Capulet, born into enemy families. Scorpius saw Albus as the unattainable, not simply because they were worlds apart socially, but because in five years, he had never once been allowed the opportunity to even _talk_ to him. Albus was constantly surrounded by his family like the Royal Guard; they protected him from everything including the nasty, hateful rumours that spread about his sexuality.

But now that had all changed, Scorpius had been granted a rare opportunity to have Albus to himself and he was undeniably and completely fucking it up. The first time they had exchanged words Albus had challenged him and Scorpius had seen a flame in his eyes that he couldn't help but fan. He pushed Albus, watching him burn brighter by the second as he fiercely defended his personal morals and it was a glorious sight to see. He watched him from afar for the rest of the day and he couldn't help but wonder if Albus burned just as brightly when he was in the throws of passion, this thought only made him want the boy more.

Of course, it was only then that Scorpius realised he had already been claimed; Albus was with that good looking Sixth year and why wouldn't he be, that guy was every gay man's wet dream and much more suited to Albus than Scorpius was. Still Scorpius had to wonder how interested Albus really was in this guy, sometimes he got the feeling it was a one-sided attraction; it was only this that kept Scorpius hopeful.

As he walked back to join the rest of the students it was Albus that occupied most of his thoughts and when he saw the boy in the flesh he felt his gratitude at being granted this precious time with him swell in his chest. He smiled and was about to call out to him when he saw that weird Hufflepuff girl come up behind him and roughly pin him to the wall. Scorpius was so shocked he stopped dead in his tracks – was Albus with _this girl_? And that Sixth year boy?

By the time Scorpius saw the panicked look on Albus' face the girl was already kissing him. "Hey!" Scorpius shouted out. _He's mine!_ he thought as he began to jog over to pull the little leech of his friend, but to his surprise – and slight disappointment – someone else got there first.

Rose Weasley had gripped a large chunk of Miss Hufflepuff's hair and used it to forcefully pull her off Albus and push her away. "I told you to stay away from him you little bitch! What part of _he's not interested in you_ didn't you understand?"

"You're just jealous!" the Hufflepuff protested as she held her hand over where Rose had pulled at her hair. "You want him for yourself, but you can't have him because he's your _cousin_, you sicko!"

"_I'm sick_!?" Rose screeched furiously. "He's my best friend! You're the psycho who tried to get into his room naked!"

"Rose! Stop it!" Albus yelled. "Look, Stacey I'm really sorry if I've given you the wrong idea, but Rose is right, I'm not interested in you. I'm gay, I don't like girls, I like boys," he explained calmly.

"What?" Stacey gasped. "You're lying," she accused. "We _belong _together, I can _feel _it."

"No, we _don't_. I'm not interested, I'm sorry," Albus insisted before walking away, leaving the girl standing there stunned.

Scorpius watched the scene in disbelief; this was certainly not something he ever thought he'd see –Albus' protective family in full force. He knew that Hufflepuff girl had a crush on Albus but he thought the rumour about her climbing naked into his dorm room were just that – rumours. Untrue rumours. He was starting to think he was going to have to kill this girl slowly and painfully and soon if he was going to do it before Rose did; Rose Weasley was a little Pocket Rocket.

"Albus!" he called out and started to jog over to him, but he heard someone else call his name from the other direction. Before he'd reached the Gryffindor someone else had enveloped him in a tight hug; Oscar – The boyfriend.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly as he kissed Albus' untamed locks. "I caught the tail end of that, what did she do to you?" he questioned as he pulled away enough to look the Fifth year over. Scorpius felt sick watching this display and he realised they really must be together.

"I'm fine," Albus insisted, pushing himself away from Oscar. "I think I might just go to bed."

"Are you sure?" Oscar asked sounding worried.

"Positive, I'm fine," Albus insisted. "I'll see you tomorrow, I promise," he said before kissing Rose on the cheek and quietly walking away from them. He didn't even acknowledge Scorpius and, although he understood the Gryffindor must be shaken, it still hurt.

* * *

It was mid afternoon the next day before Albus and Scorpius had finally cleared all the Doxies from the large abandoned study. Albus had refused to talk about the previous night's encounter with the crazy Hufflepuff, only to say he was fine and he didn't want to think about it anymore. Scorpius was trying to be understanding and supportive so he let the subject drop, he also let Albus lounge around at the dusty desk while he did a final check of the room for hiding Doxies. The Gryffindor had let his curiosity get the better of him and he'd rifled through the chest of drawers to the left of the desk and now he was sifting through piles of aged parchment.

"Are there any left?" he called out to Scorpius from the desk.

"Not that I can see," Scorpius informed him.

"Good," Albus nodded. "You should come over here and see what I've found."

Scorpius packed up the spray bottle of Doxycide and made his way over to where Albus sat. He picked up the top piece of parchment on the pile and scanned over the smaller handwriting; it looked like a letter. "What are they?" he asked casually.

"Love letters," Albus answered, giving Scorpius his most beautiful smile. "They're beautiful, listen to this," he said as he picked up the parchment he'd just been looking at. "Like the parting of two grey clouds, you shine upon me. You dry my tears like the end of Winter's rain and your love warms my heart and gives me hope," he spoke the words lovingly and Scorpius found them wrapping around him like a blanket; he could almost imagine him speaking those words to him and meaning it. "You are my summer sunshine," Albus finished.

Had Scorpius been able to look at Albus while he spoke those words, he never would have seen the panel Albus had been so obsessed with shift slightly. Scorpius frowned as he continued to watch it closely to see if it would moved again. "Say that again," he requested, staring intently at the wall panel.

"What?" Albus asked, looking up at him from the letter.

"Say it again, just that last part," Scorpius instructed him as he got down on the floor to watch the panel closely.

"You are my summer sunshine?"

The panel shifted again.

"It moved!" Scorpius exclaimed. "You are my summer sunshine," Scorpius stated speaking directly at the wall. Nothing happened. "Hmm, that's weird, it worked when you said it."

Albus knelt down on the floor directly in front of the secret door and repeated the final words of the letter. To his surprise – and Scorpius' – the wall panel slid right over top of the other. Albus was right; those marks _were_ made by the moving panel.

Albus squealed his excitement at breaking the lock and looked over to Scorpius with bright eyes. "We did it!" he cried and without thinking he flung himself into Scorpius who caught him effortlessly in an easy hug.

Scorpius smiled at Albus as he awkwardly pulled away with a definite blush on his cheeks. He wouldn't push anything since he knew Albus was with that Sixth year, however, he couldn't help but feel encouraged at the Gryffindor's actions. "Let's go find Faulkner shall we?" Scorpius suggested as he moved to get up from the floor where they were both still kneeling.

"Yeah, we will," Albus replied distractedly and Scorpius immediately felt nervous. "I just want to have a quick peek inside."

"Albus, no," Scorpius pleaded.

"Just a quick look, I want to see if I can see anything, then we'll go straight to Faulkner I swear!" Albus promised. The wall panel had, thus far, revealed only a dark passage, it was impossible to see how long it was or what lay at the other end. Albus carefully poked his head inside, but still all he could see was darkness. He pulled out his wand and commanded it to light up, "_Lumos!_" he said.

Scorpius stayed close behind him, he felt a little better seeing that Albus' feet were still sticking out the small door, but he was still nervous as he thought of all the possibilities of what his partner might find. Albus had been sheltered and protected by his family, but Scorpius had not, he had no problem imagining what someone would hide behind a secret hidden door and none of them were good options. This door was designed to hide something that was never intended to be found by someone else; he was starting to regret helping Albus open the door in the first place.

"Albus, that's enough, we really need to go and fetch Faulkner now," Scorpius insisted.

"I still can't see anything!" Albus called out from inside the passage. "I think its some kind of tunnel!"

"Alright, well, come out now and we'll go and fetch a professor!" Scorpius shouted back to him.

"Okay, I just want to-" Albus replied as he crawled further inside. As soon as his body was all the way in the passage the door snapped shut and locked tight.

"Albus!" Scorpius cried out. "ALBUS!"

"I'm okay!" he heard the Gryffindor answer him.

"Stay there!" Scorpius cried out. "You are my summer sunshine!" he shouted at the door, but it didn't move.

"Really? That's so sweet!" he heard Albus joke from behind the panel.

"Shut up! This is no time for jokes!" Scorpius declared. "You are my summer sunshine!" Nothing. "Summer sunshine! Sunshine!" he stated, trying to make sure he was clear and firm, but still nothing happened.

"Is it working?" Albus cried out from the other side.

"No! What do I do?" Scorpius shouted as he started to panic.

"Just keep trying, I'm going to go up ahead, I think I can see a light coming from the other end!" Albus informed him.

"No! Don't! You don't know what is up there!" Scorpius cried out, but Albus didn't respond. "Albus?" he called again. "Albus? Albus!"

Still, he got no response from the Gryffindor. He began to properly panic now and he slammed his fists repeatedly into the panel as he called Albus' name out, praying he would respond.

He didn't.

* * *

Authors Note: Okay the summer sunshine thing is a little bit corny but I couldn't help myself, I've been reading through my old year 12 poetry book and I fell in love with Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 all over again (its just so sweet!) and it was on my mind when I wrote this chapter. 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?' _sigh_ … why don't they make men like Shakespeare anymore? Somehow I think that falls among many of life's unanswerable questions along with, why is Mr Darcy only a fictional character and not real with me as his Elizabeth?

Can anybody answer this for me?

PS - I'm working on my cliffies, Lex is giving me lessons. How well are they paying off?


	5. Catherine and Henry

Okay, so I decided to end your pain, if any of you were in pain that is. lol. Many thanks to Lex who betaed this for me (I know, unexpected right?). lol.

* * *

Chapter 5: Catherine and Henry

* * *

"Albus!" Scorpius cried out again before he thumped hard three more times against the now sealed wall panel. His heart felt like it was seizing in his chest as he thought for a second about what it would feel like to lose Albus Potter altogether; what if he never came back? What if he couldn't open the door again?

_I need help,_ he thought.

Scorpius sprinted out of the room and down the corridor towards the common area, kitchen and dining room. "Hello?" he called as he ran through the empty rooms. "Hello? Professors?"

The place was deserted and he had no idea where to look next. The others had been working in separate parts of the manor, but he had no idea where. As he glanced down at his wristwatch he realised Albus had been alone now for five minutes and left in that tunnel by himself for at least ten. A fresh wave of panic washed over Scorpius and he searched for help again, but it was in vain, there was no one around. He was going to have to rescue Albus by himself.

He sprinted back to the study he'd spent most of his time in so far and dived to his knees in front of the wall panel. "Albus?" he called out again, hoping once more for a response from him. "Albus, if you can hear me I'm going to get you out! Don't worry okay?" he said, hoping it was true. "What do I do? What do I do?" he whispered to himself, mentally running through anything he could think of to reopen that secret door.

"Calm down, Scorpius," he told himself firmly. "Think."

They'd opened the door already, so logically he should be able to do it again. Albus had discovered the password, but it wasn't working anymore. "The letters!" he exclaimed, scrambling up the loose pieces of parchment still on the desk, picking out the letter Albus had read to him, the one that had opened the door. After making a silent plea to Merlin or the Fates or any higher being that might be listening and in a position to help, Scorpius began to read the words that composed this heartfelt love letter. They were beautiful, just as Albus had said.

"My dearest Catherine," Scorpius read, "for as long as I breathe I will remain by your side to care for you and keep you safe," and the letter was signed, "Your Guiding Star in the Heavens." The wall shifted slightly and Scorpius gasped from the shock of it.

"Your guiding star," Scorpius repeated leaning into the wall panel and it snapped open, sliding over the top of the panel to its right, just as it had done before. "ALBUS!" Scorpius shouted into the dark tunnel, but again there was no response. Darkness infected the tunnel and Scorpius' heart rate increased again as he realised he was still alone in his rescue of his new friend; he would have to go in after him without any help.

"Albus! If you can hear me, please answer!" Scorpius cried out, begging the Gryffindor to confirm that he was still alive and healthy. Nothing. "Oh, crap," he sighed, wondering if the fearsome monster he'd conjured in his imagination – the one that lay at the end of this tunnel, the one that had most likely eaten Albus – would eat him too.

He pulled his wand out from his robes and lit the tip so that he could see into the tunnel. It was not until the wall panel shut forcefully behind him that he realised nobody else knew they were there. Shit. If they couldn't get out… No. He wouldn't think about it.

"If you're not already dead Albus Potter, I'm going to fucking kill you for this," he whispered to himself as he continued to crawl forward towards the small glow of light Albus mentioned seeing before he disappeared.

It took him a few minutes to reach the end of the passage, it wasn't particularly long, Scorpius just wanted to take his time to think of all the things he would never see again and all the things he would miss out on doing since he'd decided to throw his life away on a boy who didn't even love him back. The dark tunnel opened out into a bright room. It was lavishly decorated with a large bed that had light drapes flowing elegantly over the top for privacy. There was a small bookshelf with only a few books gracing its shelves and a long loveseat where he imagined the books were at one time read by two lovers snuggled into each other. Finally, over in the far corner stood a large white dresser with a mirror he thought four people might comfortably use, and, mercifully, in front of that mirror stood Albus Potter curiously inspecting the range of perfumes collected on the dresser top.

"Albus," Scorpius said stepping further into the room and Albus' gaze turned to meet him.

"Henry!" Albus exclaimed excitedly as he set his eyes on Scorpius. For a brief moment, barely even a full second, Scorpius was confused about why Albus had called him Henry, but, just as suddenly the name was no longer strange; it felt familiar, comfortable, as the spirit of another forcefully took over his body.

"Catherine!" Henry answered, sighing with relief at the sight of his lover.

Catherine crossed the room in a very unladylike manner so as to be in Henry's arms that much sooner. She didn't care if it was inappropriate for a lady to _fling_ herself at a man, or to kiss him or hug him first – she didn't care because this wasn't just _any _man, this was her Henry. She jumped into his arms so that he might catch her around the waist and pull her close to him as he loved to do when they were alone like this. She held him close with her arms around his neck as she pressed her lips to his for the first time in what felt like forever, when really it had only been two days. It was so difficult being so close to him and yet never being allowed to touch him or even look at him the way she wanted to. Henry's father was growing more suspicious of them by the day, she thought, and she knew they would have to see each other less frequently and for shorter periods of time, at least until he left for London next week.

She moved her lips against his delicately, tasting him innocently, but desperately yearning for more. She felt his kisses burn in her stomach and she could only be grateful she washed her own undergarments since they were sticky after nearly every private rendezvous. Henry was so clever to make this room for the two of them; she couldn't imagine how he did it, or what she had done to deserve the love of such a powerful wizard.

"I've missed you, Darling," Henry whispered to her sweetly and she melted into him once more, letting him plunder her mouth as he liked.

Scorpius felt like he'd just opened his eyes, like he was just waking up to a new morning, except he wasn't. He didn't really have time to recall what had happened because something much more important was happening; he was kissing Albus Potter. He was surprised to find that Albus tasted as sweet as he looked and he wondered if the boy didn't have a secret stash of treats somewhere that he indulged in to have his mouth taste so sugary. The Gryffindor pressed up against him and moved his tongue gently against the other as if enjoying Scorpius' mouth just as much as the Slytherin was enjoying his.

Scorpius couldn't believe this was happening, he was _kissing Albus Potter_, this had only ever happened in his dreams before and he found it was so much better in reality. He moaned his desire into Albus' mouth and tried to deepen the kiss only to find himself empty handed and stumbling backwards.

Albus stared at him wide-eyed from across the other side of the room. "Oh my god," he gasped, touching his fingertips gently to his abused lips.

"You kissed me," Scorpius smirked for a moment until he realised that wasn't quite true. They had kissed definitely, but he wasn't _himself_ the whole time and he remembered thinking that Albus was somebody else too.

"No I didn't!" Albus exclaimed, as if worried about being accused of kissing Scorpius; it took Scorpius a few moments to remember why kissing him might be a problem – the boyfriend.

"Yes, you did," Scorpius teased.

"I didn't!" Albus protested again and Scorpius just smirked. "What did you call me?" he asked quietly as though deep in thought.

"Catherine," he replied. "And you called me 'Henry'." That fact made the hairs on the back of Scorpius' neck stand at attention and shot unpleasant shivers down his spine. "Albus I think we should get out of here, there's something wrong with this room."

Albus glanced around the room one last time before nodding and leading the way back out through the tunnel. Scorpius followed wondering what they would do if the door refused to open again, but he needn't have worried, they were allowed to pass back through without reciting a password and were instantly admitted back into the study. Albus quietly crossed the floor and stood a good distance from Scorpius, clearly lost somewhere in his head. Scorpius had never wished he could read minds more than he did right at that moment, what he would have done to know what Albus was thinking right then… He just watched him, wondering what he should say.

"What just happened?" Albus asked softly after a time, his back still towards Scorpius.

"I was someone else and so were you," Scorpius replied, just as softly. The silence of the room didn't require them to speak any louder. "Do you think it was real?"

"It felt real," Albus breathed, finally turning to face his new Slytherin friend.

"Wow," Scorpius sighed, frowning nervously.

"They're in love," Albus stated, finally allowing his face to break into a large grin. "Did you feel it?"

Scorpius nearly recoiled at the excitement and delight shining in Albus' eyes; how could he feel that way about what had just happened? Didn't he understand? "What?" he gasped in shock.

"Didn't you feel their love?" he asked again. "It was amazing."

"Are you kidding? It scared the shit out of me," Scorpius stated.

"Scared you?" Albus sounded shocked at this. "I thought it was wonderful! Didn't you feel how _in love_ they were? Wasn't it just exhilarating holding someone you loved that much?"

"I don't think you realise what just happened," Scorpius retorted seriously.

"And you do?" Albus scoffed, his eyes burning just like they did when they first argued.

"Yes, more than you do, clearly," Scorpius argued.

"Then enlighten me, O Wise One," Albus remarked sarcastically.

"If they were real-" Scorpius began, before Albus interrupted him.

"They were! Love like that can't be fabricated."

"Fine then," Scorpius conceded. "There are spirits in that room that took over our bodies. They _possessed _us, Albus."

"And if this house hasn't been disturbed for two hundred years, those spirits are at _least _that old. This is amazing. For a moment we _were _people that lived centuries ago," Albus said as though in awe of the idea that what they had felt in there was centuries old.

"I don't think you understand, they _controlled _us," Scorpius insisted.

"I know that!" Albus snapped. "I felt it too, but nothing happened!"

"Possession is like mind control," Scorpius hissed fiercely. He was starting to worry that Albus wasn't taking this seriously enough. "You loose your consciousness, like Imperius. There's a reason its illegal!"

"Yeah, only so someone can't force you to do something you don't want to!"

"And what do you think just happened?" Scorpius asked him firmly.

"Nothing _bad_ happened!" Albus told him again.

"Are you saying you _wanted_ to kiss me?" Scorpius challenged him taking a step forward.

"I – No, I'm not saying that," Albus breathed, suddenly bashful as a beautiful blush coloured his cheeks. "But perhaps it wasn't the _worst _thing. I mean it wasn't bad mind control, not like what you're talking about, not like what happened during the war."

"Yes and we were very lucky to be released when we were, before anything bad _could_ happen," Scorpius replied, refusing to budge on his stance, but he wasn't as harsh as before in the wake of Albus' rosy cheeks.

"Stop acting like we were possessed by the Bloody Baron, they're two lovers for Heaven's sake, not serial killers," Albus teased.

"You don't know that," Scorpius insisted. "You feel them for a second, in _one _moment, and you think you know these people? You don't. What does it matter anyway, its not like we're going back in there, right?" Albus didn't reply. "_Right?_"

Choosing not to answer Scorpius Albus quickly threw a question back at him. "I understand what you're trying to say, but you should at least try and understand what _I'm _saying?" Albus sighed, like he was trying his best not to get angry.

"I understand you don't completely grasp the seriousness of what just happened," he replied evenly.

"I grasp it just fine, but I think in this _particular situation_ you're overreacting," Albus accused.

"_Overreacting!?_" Scorpius gasped. Albus Potter was a very worrying young man and he wondered what he was getting himself into fancying this boy who was likely to get him killed one day. He was not meant to be brave, he was too smart for that – he was a Slytherin after all – but Albus, he was so much the idiotic Gryffindor it had taken him by surprise, it probably shouldn't have, but it did.

"Yes," Albus said firmly with a single sharp nod of his head. "Just listen for a moment. I think the spirit of Henry is the man who previously used this office and Catherine was his lover. Catherine's name came up in some of those love letters so I think it's a pretty safe bet that he was the last person to use this office."

Albus paced the room as he spoke as though he was thinking out loud to himself as much as talking to Scorpius. The pacing made Scorpius nervous because he could see now just how absorbed Albus was with what just happened, he would never be able to change his mind – stubbornness was a Gryffindor trait as well.

"Henry and Catherine had to hide their love for some reason, otherwise why would they have a secret room? I bet they used to meet there to be together," Albus continued. "They've died obviously, but their spirits felt young, don't you think?"

Scorpius had been concentrating on watching Albus walk back and forth while thinking of the many reasons why a couple would hide their love and the possible consequences for that; none of them were good. It took him a moment to realise Albus was staring at him awaiting his response. "Er, yeah, I guess," he shrugged, not really wanting to encourage the Gryffindor any further.

"So why did they die so young?" Albus asked, but it was obvious he wasn't expecting an answer; he knew there was none Scorpius could give. "Why did they have to hide their love?"

"Why do you even care?" Scorpius huffed. "Can't we just count this as a lucky escape and leave those spirits to themselves?"

"I just want to feel that way again," he said quietly. "I want to feel that _love _again, that _need. _Didn't you think it was the most incredible thing?"

Scorpius smiled, despite the worry he felt at Albus' reaction to this serious moment. "Yes, it was incredible," he said softly, not just talking about the love Henry felt for Catherine.

"I want to know why they're there," Albus declared. "It's not normal is it, for spirits to hang around in this world? They should have moved on and if they didn't, they should have left an imprint like Nick or the Baron, right?"

"You know, I don't know a hell of a lot about the afterlife… that stuff sort of freaks me out a little bit," Scorpius admitted with a frown.

"I don't know that much myself, but I think Rose questioned Nearly Headless Nick about that sort of stuff when her Pa Granger died last year," Albus mused. "But I don't know if I want to tell her about anything yet."

"Let's not tell anyone, let's just forget about it then," Scorpius suggested. He loved the idea of kissing Albus again but he wanted to do it on his own terms, not through some lovesick ghost.

"I want to learn more about them first," Albus continued as though Scorpius hadn't said anything. "Aren't you curious about who they were? Why they had to keep their love a secret?"

"Not in the least, Albus, they're _dead_," Scorpius huffed. "You should focus on finding love like that for yourself if you're so keen on feeling that way again, focus on the _living_, you never know what's _right in front of you._"

"Do you think if I owl the owners of the house, they'll know about the family who lived here last? Perhaps they have a family tree, we can see if there's a Henry and if he married someone named Catherine," Albus said, thinking out loud and moving around the desk towards the drawers. His eyes glowed with excitement as the thrill of a mystery gripped him tightly.

"You're going to make me do this, aren't you?" Scorpius sighed, sounding as though he had been beaten and defeated.

"I can't make you do anything," Albus smirked as he rifled through the desk drawers looking for clues on Catherine and Henry. "But I sure would appreciate the help, who else will save me if my curiosity gets the better of me again? I hear it kills."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and began helping Albus look over the aged parchment locked away in the desk drawers looking for information on the two lovers, disregarding the brittle old quills and dry ink pots they found amongst it all.

* * *

Albus lay still in his bed later that night, he could feel the crispness of the sheets that encircled him, and he wondered if Scorpius was lying awake too. After everything that had happened that day he wouldn't be surprised. _He_ certainly couldn't sleep. His mind was buzzing so much he was surprised his thoughts didn't pierce the quiet darkness around him so that everyone could hear them.

He was thinking about Catherine and Henry, who they were and why they were forced to love in secret. After inspecting the drawers of the study Albus deduced that the large room belonged to his Henry, it made sense after all, he could guard the entrance to the room best if it was in his study. But Catherine was a mystery, he didn't know who she was, there were no clues about her. Albus remembered getting the feeling they were hiding things from Henry's father more than anyone else, but no reasons why.

Albus didn't know _why_ his thoughts were so stuck on these spirits; he just knew he needed to help them. He felt like they weren't together, even though they haunted the same room, they still weren't _together_ and it felt wrong, especially now that he knew how deeply they felt for each other. Scorpius thought he was crazy, he thought these ghosts were dangerous, but Albus knew that just because they were dead, it didn't mean they weren't still real people with real feelings. He couldn't just forget about them.

And then, of course, there was Scorpius.

_Scorpius._

They'd kissed and it was wonderful, better than he could have ever imagined and he'd gotten lost in it, even after he'd come back to himself. Scorpius had moaned into his mouth and it brought the reality of the situation crashing back down to Earth. He was _kissing Scorpius! _The straight, pureblood son of his father's childhood enemy. The most beautiful boy he'd ever seen.

The confusing part was that Scorpius didn't really seem to care and that notion had him staring wide-eyed into the darkness long after he should have been asleep. How could a straight boy _not _mind being thoroughly kissed by a gay boy?

The only thing Albus could think of was that Scorpius may not be as straight as he first thought. The idea that Scorpius may reciprocate Albus' feelings, even in a small way, had a storm of butterflies flapping about in his stomach.

Albus turned his head to gaze over at where he knew Scorpius was sleeping, or at least pretending to, but the inky black night prevented him from seeing the Slytherin's form.

Albus turned back, mildly disappointed. The boy he liked might just like him back. What was he supposed to do now?

* * *

Okay, so I hope that wasn't too confusing. The possession part I mean... I sort of imagined it more like the Angel/Angelus switch were the spirits' consciousness takes over completely. Albus and Scorpius will remember what happened, but they have no conscious thought while they are possessed.

So tell me what you think now you all have the crux of the story...


	6. Rescue me

Author's note: Much love and thanks to Alexis who betaed this for me.

I said I'd gift eiajhn a Boggart and I have. Enjoy lovely. x

* * *

Chapter 6: Rescue me

* * *

Albus woke up late the next morning after a fitful sleep where his mind was plagued by the mysterious Catherine, the nineteenth century woman he had gotten a brief glimpse of. When he arrived at breakfast Scorpius greeted him with a warm smile that made Albus both excited and scared at the promises it held for him.

"Good morning, Sleepy-head," Scorpius teased him. "I got some breakfast for you." Scorpius glanced down at the steaming bowl of porridge next to him and nodded for Albus to sit.

"Thanks," Albus replied nervously at the gesture; Scorpius was definitely interested in him and he didn't know how to respond. Albus was sure he wanted to encourage Scorpius, but Scorpius seemed to be getting plenty of encouragement on his own, any more and Albus would likely run for the hills, so he left it be.

"Sugar?" Scorpius offered and Albus started to politely refuse when a bowl of raisins slid effortlessly across the table coming to a stop to Albus' right.

Albus glanced up and Oscar threw him a cheeky grin and a wink as if to say 'you're welcome' before getting up to wash his empty plate. He laughed and nodded his thanks to the attentive sixth year. "Um, I don't eat sugar with my porridge," Albus explained as he mixed through a handful of raisins to sweeten the otherwise bland oats. "I saw I read an article on what eating too much of certain foods actually do to your body and it scared the shit out of me," he laughed.

"I'll remember that," Scorpius told him seriously. He was disappointed that he was, once again, one upped by Albus' boyfriend, but he was determined not to let the beautiful Potter go without a proper fight.

"Good morning, Lads," Professor Faulkner greeted them much more brightly than the early hour permitted. "Would you two mind hanging back for a minute or so after breakfast? I just want to have a quick chat."

Scorpius and Albus both automatically nodded their agreement, but exchanged confused glances once Faulkner had disappeared into the makeshift kitchen. Once almost everybody else had disappeared -Rose more reluctant to leave than others since she had hardly seen her cousin the last few days and was dying to question him about Scorpius Malfoy- Faulkner came to sit at the dining table across from the two boys.

"I understand you've finished cleaning out that old study," he began. Professor Faulkner wanted to officially wrap up the punishment Professor McGonagall, who was now returned to Hogwarts, had charged them with before letting them begin their exploration of the house. "Professor Kettleburn looked it over this morning and said you did a wonderful job, completely Doxy-free."

"Yes, Sir," Scorpius nodded. "It's all finished."

"I'm glad to hear it," he beamed. "And I'm pleased to see the two of you getting along so well. The rivalry between your fathers is famous at Hogwarts and I was determined to break your families' feud with the two of you if I could."

Albus looked shyly over at Scorpius who was seated closely next to him, Scorpius smiled back and let his hand grip Albus' thigh for a few brief seconds. "Yes, Sir, we're getting along great," Scorpius assured their Defence professor.

"Good," he smiled. "Now, I have a room saved for the two of you to explore today. I know what you've been doing over the last few days hasn't been much fun so I saved this for you specially – just don't tell the others." He gave them both a wink, reminding them just how young he was compared to their other professors who had difficulty connecting with their youthful students. "It's a very interesting room," he mused as he started to get up from his chair.

"Actually, Sir, there were some documents I found in the study that I was keen to look though," Albus piped up. It was obvious he wanted to spend the day in that study trying to learn more about the troublesome spirits they'd stumbled across.

"Oh, really?" Faulkner asked sounding surprised that the two of them would want to spend another second in that old study.

"Well, _Albus_ wants to," Scorpius added casually, trying to keep his friend's curiosity somewhat contained by allowing them to explore another part of the manor.

"The two of you are partners, you have to stay together," Faulkner informed them thoughtfully. "I tell you what, I think you've spent enough time in that Doxy-infected room over the last few days, why don't you explore another area of the house, just for a change, and you can go back and investigate those documents another day. How does that sound?"

Albus looked a little disappointed, but didn't object. Scorpius smiled at his victory.

"After all they're already two hundred years old or more, surely another day or two won't hurt?" Faulkner reasoned.

"Yes, Professor," Scorpius agreed nodding enthusiastically.

* * *

Professor Faulkner led the two boys – Albus a tad reluctant – to the East Wing; the room they were to explore was on the ground floor with a large opening out on to the rear courtyard. As they entered they found themselves in a dusty bedroom; most of the furniture was covered in large cotton sheets, but some of them had been moved recently, by the professors Scorpius supposed as he took in his surroundings.

"Looks like a fairly standard bedroom, although there's not much personal stuff in here," Albus observed, and he was right. There was a dresser but nothing on it, there were no photographs, no writing desk and no storage trunks.

"Yeah, standard except for that," Scoprius stated pointing over at a long metal stand that stood taller than himself.

Faulkner smiled. "That's what makes this room so interesting," he said. "This is a guest room bedroom, I think, wouldn't you agree, Mr Malfoy?"

"Yes, this is a downstairs bedroom so it's more than likely, I mean all our guest bedrooms are downstairs except for one's reserved for particular guests," he answered thoughtfully.

"Whoever used this bedroom was ill and they were treated in here," Faulkner informed them, nodding to the metal stand which the boys presumed was some kind of medical device. "But I can't figure out why they would have nursed a guest through such a serious illness, does that seem irregular to you, Mr Malfoy?"

"Highly, I mean a cold is one thing, but a serious illness… surely they would have sent them home or to a treatment centre," Scorpius frowned, thinking through the pureblood etiquette he had been taught.

"That's what I thought. Perhaps you can figure it out," Faulker smiled. "See if you can make some inferences using the things you find in here about who might have used this room and why, perhaps even what they were ill with if you're really good. You'll only have this room to yourselves for today though, tomorrow Professor McGonagall has organized for someone to come in and give everyone a lesson on nineteenth century medical care and provide a little bit on insight on what happened in here."

"Cool," Albus smiled, obviously impressed. He wandered further into the room and took a peek under one of the dirty sheets.

"Make sure you behave yourselves, won't you?" Faulkner winked, grinning at them as he left. "Oh and there's a Boggart in that end cupboard over there," he added as an after thought. "I was going to remove it but I thought you two would have fun playing around with it before getting rid of it yourselves."

Once Albus and Scorpius were left alone and unsupervised the pair instantly relaxed and let their curiosity take over as they explored the remains of the room. It was a large room but very dimly lit, the candles provided only a flickering orange light when they were used to the luxury of working with natural light in the old study. Albus moved over to the curtains and poked them just to make sure they were inhabited before he started to pull them open.

"Not like that!" Scorpius laughed as he looked up to see his partner struggling with the heavy curtains. He stalked over to the window and searched for a minute until he found a long wooden pole with a large hook on the end. Scorpius smirked when he found it and displayed it to Albus. "Like this," he said and he reached up to hook the curtains up high and pull them over.

"Well sor-ree," Albus pouted. "My ceilings are a _normal _height; I've never needed equipment to open my curtains."

Scorpius handed him the pole. "Better let you practice then." Albus just scowled at him.

Thirty minutes later and Albus had successfully opened the curtains and the large doors leading out to the rear courtyard. The boys worked together to remove all the dust-protective sheets where they piled them haphazardly outside.

There was a large range of medical equipment stored in a white cabinet at the back of the room, most of it the boys did not recognize. There were at least thirty small clear bottles, their contents long gone, with glass stoppers balancing on the tops and scattered all around. There were an assortment of discoloured rags and bandages, along with a range of glass, wooden and metal instruments most likely for cutting, poking, clamping, prodding, and all sorts of other cringe-worthy purposes.

"Some of this stuff looks scary," Albus commented as he watched Scorpius pick up a wooden clothes peg looking thing.

"Huh, what do you reckon this is for?" he asked playfully before snapping the peg on to Albus' nose and releasing a pleasant chuckle.

Albus snatched the object off his nose and flung it across the room. "Yuck, Scorpius! I think the more important question is _where has that been?_" Scorpius just laughed harder, clutching his sides as he leaned back on to the wall; Albus' face only got redder the longer and harder Scorpius laughed.

They explored the room for the next few hours, enjoying themselves enormously as they let their imaginations grow wilder and wilder as they invented stories about what different objects were used for and what the person living here was possibly ill with. Unfortunately the equipment was too unfamiliar and the possibilities for illness too broad for either of them to make any evidence-based guesses as to what might have happened.

"I suppose we should tackle this Boggart before we break for lunch," Albus suggested.

"Okay, um, I'm just going to nick off to the loo for a minute," Scorpius said sounding rather skittish.

"Don't bother," Albus laughed, picking up and throwing a metal bed pan on to the bed next to where Scorpius was standing.

"Now _that's_ disgusting," Scorpius commented. "You go ahead with the Boggart, I'll be back."

"It's okay, you go, I'll wait for you," Albus replied feeling carefree. He'd had the best morning with Scorpius, the Slytherin was so much fun, and although he teased him a fair bit Albus still felt a rush of warmth even through his annoyance.

"No, don't wait. You just go ahead, I don't mind," Scorpius insisted.

"Are you crazy? Boggarts are hilarious, you can change them into fun stuff and they're not even scary anymore," Albus chuckled, obviously remembering his last encounter with a Boggart fondly.

"They're embarrassing," Scorpius retorted and for the first time Albus noticed how uncomfortable he was.

"Only if you're afraid of fluffy bunny rabbits," Albus scoffed, pouting a little. "You aren't, are you?" he asked as an after thought.

"No," Scorpius answered quickly. "But I wouldn't scoff at bunny rabbits, I heard about a killer rabbit that ate a bunch of Knights who thought it was 'just a rabbit'."

"Really?" Albus asked, clearly finding it hard to believe.

"Really. Anyway, all I'm saying is don't underestimate them," he replied.

"So that Boggart _is _going to turn into a rabbit?" Albus pressed.

"No," Scorpius insisted. "It's just – don't you think it's a bit personal, other people seeing what scares you?"

"Oh," Albus breathed. He was disappointed and a little bit hurt that Scorpius didn't trust him enough to let him see him face a Boggart. "Yeah, I guess. It's okay, you can go, and I'll do this by myself."

"Okay," Scorpius nodded and slowly made his way out of the room feeling guiltier with every step.

He had only been gone for five minutes before the guilt became too much and he knew he couldn't sit there and let Albus deal with it alone. He reasoned that he should at least stay and watch just to make sure it all went smoothly; if you let yourself get overwhelmed by a Boggart it can be rather damaging psychologically. Once he was within a few metres of where he'd left Albus he heard a scream and pleading that sent a flood of dread through his heart and he was off at a sprint to save the hopeless Gryffindor once more.

When he entered the room the sight of Albus curled on his side on the floor with his head tucked between his knees and a swarm of locusts jumping all over him made Scorpius feel ill. The young Potter had apparently given up trying to swat them away and had just taken to hiding and whimpering until the Boggart had enough. Scorpius drew his wand and shouted 'Ridikulus!' turning the terrifying grasshoppers into a collection of brightly coloured rubber bouncy balls that he sent bouncing straight back into the cupboard the Boggart had taken up residence in.

Albus trembled on the floor at his feet still unaware that he was no longer covered in grasshoppers and Scorpius' heart lurched with emotion. He should never have left Albus alone; it was his fault this had happened. He knelt down and touched Albus' shoulder and he shrank away from him whimpering a plea to be left alone.

"Albus, it's okay they're gone," Scopius assured him touching him again and the Gryffindor tentatively looked around him.

"Scorpius," he gasped and he buried himself in the blonde's protective embrace. "It turned and I tried to banish them, but then they were all over me and I didn't know what to do."

"It's okay; it's my fault I never should have left you by yourself," Scorpius confessed. "I'm so sorry, I'm a rotten partner!" he scolded himself.

"No, you aren't a rotten partner! I was the one who decided to do it alone," Albus reminded him. "Normally I'd be fine, but after you left I just couldn't concentrate. I kept thinking I'd hurt you or something."

"You didn't hurt me, Albus," Scorpius assured the boy still shivering in his arms. Albus was still carefully brushing away invisible locusts and Scorpius could only pull him in tighter. "I was being childish when I said I didn't want to help, I was just embarrassed about what the Boggart would turn into for me."

"I never would have laughed at you, no matter what it turned into," Albus told him sincerely and Scorpius knew it was true. He felt like he could tell Albus anything and he would never laugh and never tell anyone else, even if they only ever remained friends.

"I know, I'm sorry," Scorpius whispered letting his face nuzzle into Albus' hair. He wanted to kiss him so much it hurt, but he knew he couldn't; Albus needed to be the one to instigate an action like that and Scorpius knew he never would, he was too faithful to betray his boyfriend that way. "Do you want to know what it would have turned into?" Scorpius asked softly thinking that he at least owed Albus that.

"You don't have to," Albus replied.

"No, I want to," he said and he meant it. "When I face a Boggart it turns into my Grandfather."

"Lucius Malfoy?"

"Yeah," Scorpius confirmed, blushing slightly. "See I told you it was embarrassing."

"That's not embarrassing, I've met your Grandfather and I think it's kind of fair enough," Albus smiled shyly. "He scared me too."

"You met him?" Scorpius asked confused; his Grandfather was under house arrest from the war. Had Albus been to his house?

"Yeah, he was at the Ministry appealing his sentence and my father had to testify again. I was only nine and there was no one to watch me and Lily because Mum was working and Nanna and Pop Weasley were visiting Uncle Charlie and his partner," Albus explained. "So Lily and I went with him and we bumped into your Granddad in the Lobby on the way out. He didn't say much but it was enough to scare me. I remember having a nightmare that same night about being chased through an old dark warehouse, I never saw who was chasing me but I just knew it was him. Pretty silly, huh?"

Scorpius laughed. "Not at all. I used to have nightmares about him all the time. I'm still frightened of him, that's why it's so embarrassing. I'm a sixteen year old boy who's terrified of his own Grandfather."

"Yes, well, you're Grandfather is terrifying," Albus smiled and Scorpius felt better already, especially with Albus still snuggling close to him.

* * *

"Professor Faulkner!" Albus called out as the Professor was heading out just after lunch. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead," he smiled. This man was always smiling and Albus found it both endearing and frustrating.

"I've been thinking," Albus began.

"Always a dangerous pastime," Faulkner quipped.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing, please continue."

"Well I was wondering if I might be able to contact the owners of the house," Albus requested. "You see after going through some of their belongings I've become very curious about the family that last lived here and I was hoping to get some extra information about how many people lived here, who they were, things like that."

"You know you're the first student to ask me that," Faulkner mused. "I'll have to ask Professor McGonagall of course, but I see no reason why you can't write up a letter and if she agrees I can forward it on for you."

"Okay, Sir," Albus grinned. "Thank you, I'll do that and have it to you before dinner."

"Oh, did you get that Boggart for me?" Faulkner questioned just as he turned to leave.

"Not yet, Sir," Albus replied with a slight blush to his cheeks. "But we will, Scorpius and I will get rid of it this afternoon, _together_."

"Well, alright then," Faulkner nodded, confused and intrigued by Albus' emphasis on his cooperation with the young Malfoy heir in removing the creature. "Glad to hear it."

* * *

Albus glowed after the events of that day. Not only had he spent the whole day with Scorpius, but they had teased each other, laughed together, confessed secrets and _cuddled_. After their long embrace before lunch Albus had noticed Scorpius touching him more than usual and sitting or standing closer to him than he had before; it gave Albus hot flushes. Dinner was no exception. Many of the other students were relieved to finally have other company and sat _far _from their assigned buddies – no one more than Rose did with crazy Stacey – but not Scorpius, he saved a sit for Albus right beside him and he pressed his thigh up against Albus' through the whole meal.

Afterwards, Scorpius went to take a bath in their improvised bathroom and Albus joined Rose in the common room prepared for the questioning of a lifetime; apparently she had noticed _everything _at dinner.

"And so you have been stolen from me," Oscar exclaimed dramatically, pulling Albus down on to his lap and slipping his arms around his slender waist. "But he's a worthy opponent I must admit, a skilled thief to have stolen your heart from my clutches."

"You never had my heart, Ozzie, you know that," Albus scolded him while blushing furiously.

"Yes, well apparently my hands aren't as nimble as Malfoy's," he replied, shaking his head sadly.

"I wouldn't know how nimble Scorpius' hands are," Albus quipped, "yet."

"Ohh!" Rose squealed at this statement. "My little Allie is _all grown up!_ Tell me everything!"

"Yes, do tell," Oscar begged, holding on to Albus tightly despite the boy's struggles to break free of his grasp. "Have you kissed him yet?"

Albus didn't reply, he only blushed harder and Rose squealed again. He felt Oscar's hands clench on his robes when he realized why Albus didn't respond.

"Is he better than me?" Oscar asked somewhat tightly. For all his casual suggestions and encouragement for Albus to make a move on Scorpius, the sixth year was certain getting rather jealous.

"That's none of your business," Albus answered, finally managing to remove himself from Oscar's embrace.

"Is it mine?" Rose asked looping her arm through Albus' and poking her tongue out at Oscar as the pair of them hurried off.

"Of course," Albus replied. "Who else would I tell?"

* * *

They are just so frickin cute together, aren't they? *sigh*


	7. A visitor

Thanks to the very clever Lex for her beta.

Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 7: A visitor

* * *

Scorpius couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. He'd let himself forget that the beautiful young Gryffindor had a boyfriend; a mistake he would not make again. Albus had welcomed his flirtatious behaviour all day and even reciprocated at times and Scorpius had simply let himself enjoy it. He'd been admiring the young Gryffindor from afar for many years, and to have him at his disposal now had been intoxicating. It shouldn't have been shocking to see Albus cuddling up to his stud of a boyfriend, but it had been. He was so furious with himself for forgetting Albus Potter was off limits, and furious with Albus for _being_ off limits. Sometimes life seemed extremely unfair.

Scorpius searched determinedly through the bag that contained all the belongings he had brought for this field trip. He couldn't face Albus right now, he was hurt and angry and when he felt this emotional he tended to lash out at people and say things he didn't really mean just to hurt them. He always regretted his words later, but often the damage was already done and he'd have to suffer the consequences. He decided it would be best for everyone if he just went to bed and read a book while he tried not to think about somebody else touching Albus.

"Are you off to bed already?" Albus asked Scorpius when he saw the Slytherin boy with his pajamas gathered up in his arms. It was rather early yet, and Albus had just popped into the boys' sleeping area to fetch his coat before he and Rose snuck out to take a walk around the garden and chat. Scorpius just grunted at him and continued shuffling through his things looking for his toothbrush. "Are you not feeling well?" Albus inquired sounding a bit concerned for his new friend.

"I'm fine," Scorpius snapped at him and Albus recoiled from the harshness of his tone. He'd had a brilliant time with Scorpius that day and they'd even had a hilarious fight at dinner passing Scorpius' mushrooms back and forth after Scorpius kept unloading them onto Albus' plate; Albus didn't understand what had brought on this sudden shift in the blond's mood.

"Oh, yeah, of course," Albus stammered his apology still a little shocked. "It's just a bit early for bed, I thought maybe you-"

"I'm fine."

"Okay, well, sweet dreams then, I guess." The adorable boy looked at Scorpius with wide, worried eyes and Scorpius stared back; he still marveled at how _green_ Albus' eyes were. Albus hid his mesmerizing eyes demurely behind his eyelashes and then turned and left Scorpius to himself in their sleeping quarters.

* * *

Albus met Rose by the front doors and they made their way quietly into the front courtyard and settled down together on the dirty stone pavement. Albus didn't feel like walking around the garden anymore, he just wanted to sit. He was quiet, he was still confused about Scorpius' behaviour; perhaps he really wasn't feeling well and he just didn't want Albus to worry. Albus couldn't think what else it would be, nothing had happened to change Scorpius' mood towards him since dinner.

"You look worried," Rose observed.

"Yeah, maybe," Albus replied. He had no reason to lie to Rose; she was his confidant in nearly every aspect of his life. "Scorpius was acting a bit weird when I went in to get my jacket. I think he might be feeling a bit unwell."

"Aw, and you want to go and take care of him?" Rose cooed. "That's so adorable!"

"Shut up, it is not," Albus huffed. "I'd do the same for you. That's _not_ adorable."

"Yes, but we're soul mates, and you wouldn't do the same for anyone else," Rose replied smugly. Rose had always declared them to be soul mates, she said they were supposed to spend their lives together, it was fated – not romantically of course, even if Albus wasn't gay, they were still related, but as best friends.

Albus just shrugged knowing she was right. If anyone else were sick he'd just say he hoped they felt better soon and then leave them to it, he wouldn't constantly be wondering if they wanted a glass of water or more blankets.

"So, do you like him?" she asked, already knowing he did. "Oscar says you've liked him for ages, even before we got here."

"Maybe," Albus admitted reluctantly, blushing slightly. "He _is_ ridiculously hot, but since I've been here I've gotten to know him and he's so funny and smart, and just _great_. He saved me, you know?"

"He did?" Rose smiled dreamily and he could see how gaga she was going over the romance of it all, but he loved it; he was going a bit gaga too.

"Yeah, we had to remove this Boggart today and I was thinking about Scorpius so much that I wasn't concentrating on it and suddenly there was a swarm of grasshoppers jumping all over me!" Albus explained and shivered in disgust at the memory. "Then they were all gone and he was telling me everything was alright and hugging me and everything."

"Awww, that's the cutest thing I've ever heard," Rose grinned, teasing him with a few annoying pokes. "Did you kiss him?"

"No, not today," he answered, blushing at the memory of the day before when they had shared a kiss.

"But you _have_ kissed him?" Rose pressed. "Come on, Allie, don't hold out on me, I haven't been kissed in weeks!"

"Yesterday we might have kissed," Albus told her as he felt his blush deepen. "And it might have possibly been the greatest thing I've ever experienced."

"Who kissed who?" she asked expertly as if she knew something he didn't about what the kiss meant depending on who kissed who.

"Um," he hummed as he wondered what to tell her. He didn't want to reveal their secret yet, not even to Rose, she would insist on telling one of the Professors, or at least demand to see the room herself and he wanted it to be just for him and Scorpius for now. "I don't remember, it just happened, but I was a bit surprised and I sort of ran away as soon as my brain caught up."

"You _ran away_?" she asked incredulously. "You idiot!"

"I know," he sighed. He'd been wishing he'd just kept kissing him all day. "I just wasn't expecting it, I thought he was straight!"

"Oh, he's not even slightly straight," Rose sighed knowingly, sounding disappointed about it.

"You _didn't_?" he gasped, only imagining what Rose might have tried on Scorpius.

"_No,_ I didn't," she huffed. "Kitty did, no actually, Kitty _tried_." Rose laughed joyously to herself for a while, Kitty was her part-time friend and full-time rival; you know what they say, keep your friends close and you're enemies closer.

"Maybe he just didn't like Kitty," he shrugged.

"Yeah well, she didn't want him to _like _her," Rose said and Albus shivered in revulsion. The thought of Kitty O'Halleron slutting herself onto Scorpius was a disturbing thought; in fact, the thought of Kitty slutting herself onto _anyone_ was disturbing. Yet slut herself around she did and she was welcomed for it by a large percentage of the males at Hogwarts, including James and, rumour had it, Professor Slughorn – another disturbing thought, and most likely completely untrue.

"That's disgusting," he commented and Rose just giggled even more.

* * *

Later that night Albus stared out into the darkness letting himself get lost in his thoughts. He felt like his life was changing, but he wasn't sure how. Everything was still normal, he was still him, Rose was still there, and he still had the same family and friends, but he felt like everything was changing, or was – somehow – on the cusp of changing. Change was a scary thing sometimes, but he felt like this change might be a good thing. All was going well, Scorpius might very well become his boyfriend soon and he would have to openly address his sexuality with his family rather than have everybody skirt around it, or not mention it at all. He'd finally be himself completely and he was actually excited about it.

He shifted to turn and face where he knew Scorpius was lying asleep in his own bed, he sighed into the darkness and wished he was confident enough to creep over and slip in with Scorpius. Disappointed with himself for his cowardice – some Gryffindor he was –he wriggled back to face the ceiling again.

"Potter, stop moving," he heard Scorpius growl tiredly.

"What?" Albus asked in surprise; he didn't even think any one else was awake.

"I can hear you fidgeting and it's distracting, I'm trying to sleep," he complained harshly.

Albus cringed at being so unfairly told off by the boy he was hoping to call his own. "I thought you went to sleep hours ago. What's wrong with you? Why are you being such an arsehole all of a sudden?" he asked feeling hurt at the Slytherin's words. Was he regretting the affection they'd shared that day? Did he not like Albus after all?

"You think _I'm _an arsehole? I'm not the one who treats other people's emotions like entertainment," he muttered almost to himself except the room was so deathly silent that his voice carried.

"Excuse me?" Albus gasped.

"Right now, I think you're both arseholes, now shut the fuck up I'm trying to sleep," John hissed at both of them before audibly changing position on his squeaky mattress.

* * *

Albus didn't sleep very well that night, he kept waking up and each time he did all he wanted to do was look over at Scorpius but he was too nervous to move about in his bed in case he upset the Slytherin again. He had dropped back to sleep just before sunrise and had just managed to reach the point where he was resting peacefully when a heavy weight dropped suddenly on to his chest.

"Whomph!" he grunted as the air was forced from his lungs and he found himself with an armful of freckles and red hair. "Rose! What the fuck!?" he swore at her angrily.

"Just here to see my favourite cousin," she cooed with a silly grin on her face.

Albus looked around the room with bleary eyes and realized that all the other boys were up already; John's bed was empty, Hugh was lacing up his shoes, and Scorpius was busy brushing his perfect blond hair. He groaned. He was so tired he just wanted to keep sleeping.

Hugh finished up with his shoes and got up to make his way to the door, presumably to breakfast. "Good morning, Rose," he said, throwing her a grin.

She sat up straighter and took a nervous breath, before returning his greeting. "Good morning," she replied, her cheeks pinked with embarrassment and she fluttered her eyelashes and glanced away from him as he grinned smugly at her reaction.

Albus tired to swallow his grin at seeing Rose behave that way for a guy; she was usually the assertive one making bold comments and smugly watching them squirm. She enjoyed calling them out if she caught them checking out her developing figure or if she noticed a nice aroused bulge in their trousers, most of them would stutter and flounder helplessly trying to explain themselves as she giggled at their attempts. She had never been one to fall helpless to a male.

"Here to see me?" Albus commented, "yeah, sure."

"Shut up!" Rose snapped, blushing deeper as she realized he'd noticed her interest in the snoring Ravenclaw. "I _am _here to see you!"

Albus laughed. He didn't mind that Rose had fallen for Hugh, he was actually a decent guy and smart enough to keep up with Rose. For a while he'd been worried that Rose would end up with a complete wanker, or end up alone, as she could never seem to settle; Hugh would be a good choice for her.

"How's everything going?" she whispered to him and flicked her eyes over to Scorpius to indicate that she was referring to him.

"Not good," Albus sighed, and his worries washed over him afresh as he was convinced that Scorpius didn't like him at all.

"I'm not sure where Rose is, Mrs. Weasley," Albus heard someone declare from the hallway and his eyes flicked up to the door, as did Rose's. "She's not in her room so I would have assumed she'd be at breakfast."

"That's okay Professor," Albus heard his Aunt Hermione reply; their voices were getting louder as they got closer. "Just find Albus and we'll find Rose."

"Oh, well the girls aren't allowed in – Rose! What are you doing in here!?" Professor Kettleburn exclaimed, stopping short as she entered the boys' room.

"I've never been able to keep these two apart," Hermione commented trying to hide her smile. "I don't see why you'd do any better than me. Hello, Darling."

"Mum!" Rose squealed as she leapt off Albus' bed and ran over to embrace her mother. "What are you doing here?"

"Surprise!" Hermione laughed. "I'm here to give you all a quick overview of nineteenth century Healing. Albus, Sweetheart, how are you?"

"I'm well, Aunt Hermione," he smiled, hopping out of bed to greet her. "Professor Faulkner mentioned a Healer coming to show us through the old medical equipment Scorpius and I found, but he never said it was you."

"Scorpius?" Hermione questioned, thinking the name sounded vaguely familiar.

Albus turned around to where Scorpius was watching them through the reflection in the mirror with his back still turned towards them. He turned to face them at the mention of his name and nodded politely towards Hermione.

"Oh, good Heavens!" Hermione gasped; shocked to see a boy who looked very much like Draco Malfoy did at sixteen years old. "Scorpius Malfoy, you're the spitting image of your father." Hermione sighed nostalgically. "Certainly brings back memories."

"Yes, sorry about that," Scorpius commented sincerely and Hermione blushed as she realized what he was talking about; she hadn't really meant to refer to their dark history, simply her time at Hogwarts. "It's been lovely to meet you Mrs. Weasley, but I should go," Scorpius continued. He gave Albus a long, meaningful glance, but the young Gryffindor was not able to discern its meaning – was Scorpius still cross with him? "I'll leave you to your family."

"Oh, um, yes, it was lovely to meet you too, Scorpius," Hermione replied, surprised at Scorpius taking his leave so quickly. "I'm sure I will see you again today."

"Of course," he nodded and he was gone from the room before any of them really knew what had happened.

"What was that all about?" Hermione asked and she noticed immediately that Albus was suddenly looking everywhere else but at her. Her daughter's grin was showing even through her attempts to hide it as she bit down on her bottom lip.

"I dunno what's wrong with him," Albus said eventually. "He's been off since dinner last night."

"What happened at dinner?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"Okay, I get it, you don't want to tell your fuddy-duddy old Aunty," she teased, but he could tell it wasn't all joking.

"No, Aunt 'Mione, that's not it," Albus assured her profusely. "Seriously, nothing happened at dinner."

"What was he like before dinner?" she asked curiously and Albus decided that it was a very good time to begin finding his clothes for the day so he could change out of his pajamas.

"They've been getting on like a house on fire," Rose answered for him. "Practically bought the wedding bands already."

"Rose!" Albus scolded, looking scandalized.

"What? It's true!" she huffed.

"Its okay, Sweetheart, if it is true," Hermione assured him. "The whole family loves you, and we'll all love Scorpius too if you do."

"Aunty 'Mione! I don't _love _him!" Albus exclaimed. His whole face was glowing red and it was starting to creep into the neck of his pajamas as the conversation grew more uncomfortable for him.

"He does," Rose told her mother seriously.

"Shut up, Rose," Albus snapped. "What about you and Hugh?" he retorted, deciding to pay his cousin back for blabbing about his love life.

"What!?" she gasped, looking nervously at her mother who was looking extremely interested. "There's nothing about me and Hugh!"

"Do you have a boyfriend, Rosie?" her mother asked with an interested grin.

"No!" Albus and Hermione both stared at Rose unconvinced. "I don't!"

"Please," Albus scoffed. "What was that this morning then?"

"He just said hello, that's it!"

"Yeah and you turned redder than a tomato when he did," Albus quipped. "You got all faint and fluttery."

"If you don't stop talking I'm going to maim you in your sleep," Rose growled.

"Alright, alright," Hermione interjected, holding both her hands up to stop them arguing. "Why don't we all agree that Albus does not love Scorpius Malfoy and that Rose doesn't have a boyfriend?"

The two Gryffindors murmured their agreement and the girls left so that Albus could quickly dress and meet them for breakfast.

* * *

Albus arrived in the dining room and breakfast was well underway for the Hogwarts group with a few people already finished. He took a seat next to his Aunt, but glanced over at Scorpius who looked up at him mournfully as he did. The blond looked over at the empty space beside him before getting up to rinse out his bowl – Albus wondered if the Slytherin was saving the seat for him.

"So Albus," Hermione whispered, leaning into him as he sprinkled raisins into his porridge, "which one is Rose's boyfriend?" she asked and he smiled back at her glad for the distraction.

* * *

I know it's so frustrating you could cry, right?

Share the love.


	8. Nineteenth Century Healing

Many thanks to Lex who betaed this for me. It's late and I'm tired so the sentiment is not grand but it is real.

* * *

Chapter 8: Nineteenth Century Healing

* * *

"I'm sorry about the small space everybody," Hermione announced to the unsettled group. "Let's just squash in as best we can. I'll try to move around the room as much as possible so everyone can see what I'm talking about."

Hermione paused waiting for the group to hush and get comfortable so that there would be no movements to distract her. Despite her confident tone she was rather nervous about presenting today, she knew that teenagers could be merciless when they felt you didn't deserve their respect. She was happy to do this though, education was important and she was glad to help where she could, especially since Albus and Rose were involved in this project.

"As some of you already know I am Rosie's mum, my name is Hermione and I'm here today just to give you a brief insight into nineteenth century Healing," she began. "I'm not going to talk you through every specific instrument here and their functions, but what I _will_ do is talk you through the main methods of medical care. I will go over what some of the more common instruments were used for, and, while I have my own ideas already, I want to see if we can deduce together as a group what might have occurred here." She paused again, letting her words settle over them and taking a deep breath before continuing. "Okay, why don't we start with Albus and Scorpius, I believe you both had the opportunity to explore this room independently yesterday. Tell me what you found here."

"A Boggart," Scorpius replied a little petulantly and Albus cringed. He was hurt slightly at the rudeness displayed towards his aunt and the way Scorpius seemed to be devaluing their Boggart experience together. Albus tried to look away from Scorpius, he could feel the blond staring at him, but his eyes betrayed him and he looked up to see the Slytherin looking sadly back at him.

"Yes, and I'm told you removed it very effectively, well done," Hermione said, politely ignoring the young man's childish tone. "Now, apart from the Boggart, can you tell me about some of what you found here?"

"Everything was covered in protective sheets when we arrived which probably preserved things much better then they would have been without the protection," Albus explained, answering the question that had been directed at Scorpius. He didn't want to give the boy the chance to be rude to his aunt again, and frankly if he wasn't going to act maturely – if he was going to be an arse to him for no reason – Albus didn't care one bit if Scorpius thought him rude too.

"That's a possibility," Hermione commented.

"Once we uncovered everything we started exploring the cupboards," Albus continued. "There are some things here that I recognized; I think they might still be used today, or at least not that long ago."

"Very good, Allie!" Hermione gushed, using his family nickname by accident. "Medical practices were fairly similar to what they were when this poor person was sick up until about fifty years ago with only small advancements over time. Nowadays things are developing much more quickly, the medical researchers at St. Mungo's Hospital are becoming more knowledgeable and more efficient all the time. One discovery seems to lead to another and we are developing treatments that fifty years ago were not even thought possible."

"What kinds of treatments did they use when this person was sick?" Albus heard a girl ask from the other side of the room.

"Bleeding and leeching were common and used as late as the early nineteen hundreds, particularly in more rural areas like this one where people held more strongly onto their traditions," Hermione explained.

"Bleeding and leeching? What's that?" the same girl asked.

"Oh, um, well, it was rather unpleasant," Hermione replied uncertainly, she didn't think it appropriate to go into the gory details with children, but it was against her grain to deny them at least basic knowledge. "Alright, well, without getting too graphic about how exactly how it was done… leeching was used in poorer families as an alternative to bleeding. Leeches were used to suck out what physicians believed to be bad or infected blood, of course in reality we now know that leeches aren't that particular about what blood they consume – blood is blood, it can't be separated into healthy or unhealthy."

Hermione paused to see if the group understood what she was telling them, they seemed to as one of the students urged her to go on and explain 'bleeding' to them. "Bleeding was a far more dangerous process and it was favoured by wealthier families that could afford the 'treatment'," she answered; Albus grinned as she used air quotes around the word treatment, he always thought it was funny when he saw one of the adults do something like that. "Bleeding was essentially the practice of renewing the blood by bleeding out the old and renewing it with a blood replenishing potion. Of course the potion was not as refined as it is today and nearly eighty-five percent of patients didn't survive the process."

"So is that what happened to this guy?" John asked looking far more fascinated than one should after learning this kind of brutality was once normalized, and rather expensive, too. Albus couldn't imagine who would _pay _for something like that; he'd Avada himself before he'd let someone even get close enough to _Bleed_ him. Sick.

"Well, let's see what we can find out," Hermione suggested before beginning to search through some of the ancient medical equipment they'd found.

Hermione went on to discuss some of the more common instruments and their functions, noting that there were several glass bottles that were likely used to contain leeches, as well as some of the equipment for bleeding. "Due to the high mortality rate, bleeding was often used as a last resort for many people, not everyone but some, so perhaps this family had tried leeches first and the other method later once they'd discovered the disease didn't wane." She went on to talk some more about Healing and answered a few questions, but ultimately explained that much of the evidence of what occurred had been lost to the passing years and would be difficult to determine.

"In cases like this we must then think outside simply our knowledge of Healing and look at other areas of knowledge that might be useful," she explained and she was pleased to see the group looked on intrigued. "So, as I am not particularly familiar with pureblood traditions and social customs, I might need some assistance. Mr. Malfoy, if you'd be so kind?"

Scorpius was surprised but managed to keep his smooth demeanor. "Of course," he replied obligingly as he stepped up to the front to join Albus' aunt.

"Now, I know Professor Faulkner has gone over this with you and Albus, but for everybody else's benefit, it is likely this room was not a permanent residence for anybody, is that correct?" she asked.

"Yes, that's right," Scorpius nodded. "We thought it was most likely a guest bedroom." Scorpius' gaze flicked over to where Albus stood not far from him and Albus found himself standing taller to demonstrate his confidence and strength. He was not going to go all weak in the knees for a flighty Slytherin who was honey one moment and icy the next.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, there was nothing personal in here, and traditionally the main bedrooms are upstairs, and guest rooms are on the ground floor," he replied.

"Did you think it was odd for a family to be treating a _guest _for what looks to be a rather serious illness?" Hermione asked him, leading the conversation so that the children would be able to connect the information together and come up with some conclusions.

"Yeah, not for anything serious."

"Okay, so considering this new information in light of what we already know, does anybody have any theories about what happened?" she prompted.

"Maybe they got really sick really quickly and then they couldn't be moved to the hospital," somebody piped up from the back of the room.

"Possibly," Hermione acknowledged. "Anyone else?"

"It could have been an extended family member who didn't usually live here, but the family here was obviously wealthy and maybe they paid for the treatment," Albus offered.

"If that were the case they would have paid for the treatment to occur in the relatives own house," Scorpius replied logically, but Albus just frowned at the challenge. "There's no sense in having a sick person unnecessarily in the house to make everyone else sick."

"That's it!" Hugh exclaimed from beside Albus. "Perhaps it _was_ someone who lived here after all, what if they were contagious! If they were allowed to stay in their usual rooms up with the rest of the family then they might have infected the whole house, so they were moved downstairs to a guest room!"

"Well done!" Hermione exclaimed. "That's what I was looking for! What's your name?"

"Hugh," he replied. "Hugh Daines."

"Hugh Daines?" Hermione said suggestively, raising her eyebrows and glancing over at Rose who turned bright red at the action.

"Well, as I said, when you're considering a situation like this where much of your evidence has been lost, you need to look at everything you have available to you, particularly things that seem unusual or out of place," she continued. "That's usually the key. So, now we have narrowed the possible ailments to contagious diseases and viruses, what are the conditions that spring to mind?"

"My Great-Grandfather died of Dragon Pox," Scorpius suggested, drawing Albus' eyes for a moment. "That's contagious."

"Yes, you're right, it is," Hermione nodded. "It was very common back then too so it's a distinct possibility. Anything else?"

"Celtic Fever?" Rose answered.

"Yes, well done, that's contagious as well," her mother smiled at her. "You've been browsing through my Healing books again, have you?" Rose simply blushed and diverted her gaze to the ground. "Any other suggestions?"

"Highland Flu?" somebody asked.

"Good thinking, but I think that epidemic came about a century after this person died," Hermione replied.

There were several more answers brought up and, whether they were right or wrong, Hermione politely encouraged every one, except those that were obviously made up; those she laughed at along with the rest of them.

"Okay, I think we're getting a bit off track so let's just wrap up shall we, I'm sure you're all starving by now, we've gone a bit over our lunch break, haven't we?" The groups voiced their agreement and a few of the boys rubbed their sore, empty tummies. "Okay, very quickly now, what would the next logical step be if we were to pursue this investigation, we now have a few leads to follow, so what now?"

"To go back to the instruments here and see which ones were used to treat which diseases," Albus suggested.

"Good thinking, Allie," Hermione congratulated him. "That would be exactly the next step, the only major problem you might encounter with that though is that treatments back then were very generic, there were very little treatments designed to specifically treat certain illnesses. So, in that case, we would have to look at investigating other areas, we'd probably look into who was in here – their age, sex, and lifestyle, as well as family history, past medical history; that is, of course, if we are able to access that information. We also might look into other deaths in the local area outside this family to see if there was anything in common." The group nodded their understanding, but Hermione could no longer deny the look of desperate hunger in their eyes. "Alright, I won't torture you any longer, let's break for lunch!"

* * *

That afternoon Albus was permitted to spend the day with Rose and his Aunt – Scorpius was paired with Stacey and Albus thought it served him right. The two Weasley grandchildren gave Hermione a tour of the old Manor and they described their first few days here. Albus confessed to his indiscretion with Scorpius and how they were punished by having to clean out the Doxies from one of the studies, however he didn't mention the secret room or the two ghosts that were now constantly on his mind.

Hermione was very interested in the Manor and kept telling them how jealous she was that she never got to do something like this when she was in school. Of course, both Rose and Albus knew all too well that Hermione was busy doing other things in school with her two best friends; saving the world only being the half of it!

At dinner, Scorpius again sat with an empty seat beside him and gazed wistfully at Albus as he entered with his aunt and cousin. Albus felt a little guilty and after spending such a pleasant afternoon with his family he was inclined to give the Slytherin a break and sit with him at dinner, before he could excuse himself though he was descended upon by Oscar who was keen to meet Hermione the war-legend.

"Aren't you going to introduce me?" Oscar asked scooping Albus up into his arms, and Hermione's eyes widened at the action; she'd been under the assumption that Albus was with Scorpius Malfoy, even if they were having a bit of a tiff.

"Mum, this is Oscar Diver," Rose said, rolling her eyes at the sixth year's obvious attempts to hold on to the non-existent piece of Albus he thought he had. "He's a Gryffindor as well, but the year above. Poor sod wants Albus but he won't have a bar of him, will you Allie?"

Albus' mouth dropped open at Rose's frankness, and Oscar was quick to release him as his face flushed bright red.

"I see," Hermione commented, and Oscar threw her a quick 'nice to meet you' before scurrying off.

Albus looked over to where Scorpius was sitting, but he had gone. Disappointed, Albus sat with the two women to brood over his steak, wondering why Scorpius hadn't waited for him.

"I had no idea you were so popular," Hermione commented, making Albus' face pink.

"Neither did I really," he shrugged.

"Yes, well, your father was always the same, completely oblivious," she chuckled. "They send their love by the way, your parents. You mum was saying she wants to come and visit you in the next weekend or two."

"Yeah, she said before she left that she would," he replied. He gazed at his potatoes chewing his lip while he tried to figure out the best way to word his next question.

"Spit it out," his observant aunt told him. "You have the same look as Harry when he has something he wants to say but doesn't know how."

"Um, well, all this stuff with Scorpius and Oscar," Albus began nervously. "Could you – I mean, you won't _say anything, _will you?"

Hermione sighed. She'd been afraid of this. "I won't say anything, but I can't lie to your parents, Allie."

"I know, I just – I want to tell them myself," he told her and she nodded.

"Then I won't say anything." She covered his hand with her own in a comforting gesture.

"Thank you," he sighed with relief.

"Albus!" he heard someone call out to him. He turned to see Professor Faulkner making his way over with a sealed envelope. "You have a reply to your letter!"

Albus' heart sped up; it was the reply to his letter asking about the family that had lived here last. "Thank you," he said again, this time to Faulkner as he retrieved his letter. "Aunt Hermione," he started to apologize for running off on her but she shushed him after seeing the excitement in his eyes and told him to run along.

Clutching the letter tightly in his hand, he glanced back one last time to see Hugh Daines take his place at the table next to Rose. He smiled and then rushed off to find somewhere quiet to read his letter, hoping it might shed some more light on the mysterious Henry and Catherine.

* * *

Yes, I am fully aware that was rather short and not particularly plot heavy, but I wanted to indulge myself in a little Hermione action - I do so love her - and the added tension in Albus and Scorpius' delay in making up is definitely a plot point so while it may not seem like it now this chapter is not entirely filler.

The next chapter won't be too far behind this one.


	9. The Chase

Thanks to the lovely Lex for her beta. Here is your promised plot :D Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 9: The Chase

* * *

Scorpius couldn't remember a time where he'd felt more wretched than he did now, not even when he had to face Grandfather Malfoy for a verbal lashing, or when he had to confess to his father that he'd failed a surprise Potions test in fourth year. He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid as to ruin the only chance he'd ever gotten with Albus Potter. After years of wanting, years of daydreaming about his perfect pink lips, he'd finally gotten his chance to befriend him, to hold him close like he'd always wanted to, and he blew it. He allowed himself to forget that Albus had already been claimed by another and when he'd seen them together it hurt so much more than he'd expected. It hurt him as if Albus had betrayed him when really he was doing no such thing.

Of course, he realized as he'd watched the young Potter sleep that morning that he had been a complete arse to Albus for no good reason and he'd unjustly hurt the Gryffindor. He had tried to apologize to him all day but Albus wouldn't have a bar of him. All he could do was take comfort from the fact that Albus couldn't avoid him forever, they were partnered together for the remainder of this field trip and they were required to spend time together.

Scorpius wriggled on his mattress, trying to find a more comfortable position. He'd retreated to his shared room when it looked like he was going to have to witness another lovers' moment between Albus and the stupid, unworthy Oscar Diver. This whole situation was a complete mess and he knew he was only going to end up hurt, but for the life of him he couldn't seem to stay away from the boy who seemed destined to break his heart. Albus was addictive and Scorpius felt like he would do anything to gain his approval, to see him smile and be welcomed in his presence. He was done for.

Scorpius was snapped from his thoughts of hopelessness by the soft footsteps of someone entering the room and he turned his head to see who it was. His breath caught as he saw it was Albus who'd joined him, his eyes puffy and red from what looked to be a heavy stream of tears; Scorpius sat bolt upright and nearly flung himself off the bed in his rush to comfort the boy.

It seemed though, that as fast as Scorpius moved Albus only moved faster, turning on his heel and fleeing from the room. "Albus!" Scorpius called to him, and immediately gave chase. He felt it deep in his heart that Albus was crying over him, that this was all his fault; he'd been such an idiot and he intended to tell him so.

Albus was a fast runner, but as tears blurred his vision he couldn't keep far ahead of Scorpius for long and soon he was caught and pressed roughly up against the stone wall. "Let me go," he whispered weakly, knowing Scorpius would do no such thing.

"I'm so sorry," Scorpius breathed, hoping Albus could feel how sincere he was in his apology. "I'm a stupid idiot. It's all my fault, you haven't done anything wrong."

Albus tore his gaze from the floor and looked up at Scorpius, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You think I'm crying about _you_, you arrogant bastard?" Albus snapped. "You've been a git to me all day, but do you really think me so weak as to cry like this just for you?"

Scorpius blinked at the sharpness of Albus' words then dropped his own eyes to the floor as he realized he'd been rather presumptuous. Albus was right; it didn't make sense that he would be _this _upset about their small argument. "What-?" he asked softly, his own insecurity cutting off his question as he wondered if Albus would be inclined to accept comfort from him now.

"He killed himself," Albus told him, another sob escaping from his throat as he said the words out loud for the first time.

Scorpius would have sworn his heart skipped at the shock of Albus' unexpected words. Someone was _dead_? Someone had killed themselves? "_What?_" he breathed, his throat constricting as his brain ran through all the possibilities of who Albus might be referring to; nobody stood out in his mind as a likely candidate. "Who did?"

"Henry," Albus whispered, his eyes filling with fresh tears once more. Scorpius released the breath he had been holding and his shoulders sagged in relief. _Henry._ Henry was already dead. "Yeah, I knew you wouldn't care," Albus spat at him unexpectedly, and he freed himself from Scorpius' relaxed grip and took off again down the corridor.

Scorpius chased after him, but Albus was determined not to be caught and by the time Scorpius realized where Albus was heading it was too late. The secret door was opened with a whispered word and Albus was through it before Scorpius could do anything but shout his protests.

"Shit," Scorpius panted staring at the now closed sliding panel. He knew he had no choice, he had to follow him in; Scorpius didn't trust those ghosts in the smallest sense and he certainly wasn't going to let them have an opportunity to hurt his love. "Your guiding star," Scorpius whispered and the door snapped open for him and he crawled inside.

Albus was lying curled up on his side on the large bed clearly visible under the light drapes hanging over him, and as he approached Scorpius felt his consciousness pushed aside to make way for another's.

Henry thought Catherine looked beautiful, even when she was upset about something; he loved playing the protective lover, able to gather her up in his arms and whisper away her fears. He crawled on to the bed and wrapped himself around her pressing his chest to her back and pulling her flush against him. "I've been thinking about you all day," he whispered to her, "counting the seconds until I could excuse myself away from my family and meet you here."

She sighed and relaxed at his words as she always did. "I've missed you too," she replied just as quietly, as if they might be overheard; he knew that was impossible, he'd made this room for them himself.

He smiled into her hair and breathed her scent deeply. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to have captured the heart of a woman so perfect as Catherine. "What is troubling you, my sweet?" he questioned. "Is it Grandfather?"

"No, it's your father," she answered him, twisting in his arms so he could see clearly the worried frown that marred her forehead. "He spoke to me today, asking about my plans for the future."

"What did he say?" he asked her, suddenly feeling as anxious as she at the thought of his father discovering their romance.

"He asked if I would marry and if I wanted children," she replied nervously. He knew she wanted to marry him and have his children, but it was not something they had talked about thoroughly. Truthfully he wished to avoid it, he wanted to be able to tell her it was possible and to give her all she dreamed of, but he wasn't sure he could. "I told him I didn't know, and he said every young lady wants a husband to care for and children to raise. I wasn't sure what to say so I told him that perhaps I would if I met the right person, I hope I said the right thing." She buried her face into his robes and wound her fingers into the fabric, holding him tightly.

"Of course you did, perhaps he was just being curious," he said, feeling that this was most likely true; if his father honestly suspected their affair he wouldn't be subtle about his objections. Henry was relieved that it seemed Catherine's worries were unjustified. "I don't think we have anything to be concerned about."

"He was being rather insistent for somebody who was simply curious," she said, sucking anxiously on her bottom lip.

"Come now, Beloved," he whispered to her, kissing her sweetly to calm her nerves. "Stop worrying your beautiful head about this, he does not suspect anything."

"We cannot hide forever, Henry, we shall have to confront him some day," she reminded him and he hoped she didn't notice him stiffen. She was right of course, they couldn't hide forever, but he was rather happy pretending they could rather than thinking about having to confess to his father.

"One day is not today," he replied evasively the way he always did when she brought up this particular subject. "Now kiss me before I die from my unhappiness at not yet properly tasting your lips."

Her heart sank with disappointment that yet again he refused to talk about their future, but she obliged him anyway. She had found she did not have the strength to deny him anything when she was sure she had been put on this Earth simply to make him happy.

Scorpius found himself waking up in his own body once again in the happy position of kissing Albus Potter, something he was sure he would never have experienced again. It was just as wonderful as he remembered and he was reluctant to let the boy go, as he seemed to fit so well against him. Their mouths moved together for just a moment before Albus pulled away from him again and he cried out at the heartache he felt from the loss.

"Albus," he gasped sitting up as the Gryffindor moved over to the edge of the bed. "Please don't go." Albus didn't say anything, but Scorpius could see him hesitate before hovering on the edge of the mattress with his legs dangling over, as if to prepare himself for a quick getaway if he needed it. "I know it's not fair of me to ask, and I would never expect you to cheat because you are so much better than that, but I need to know – do I have even the slightest hope of being with you one day?"

Albus turned to face him, his eyebrows crossed in a confused, and perhaps slightly angry, frown. "You're such a prat," he growled; Albus was definitely angry. "You're so _moody_ I have no idea what you're thinking, one minute I would have sworn you liked me, the next you hate me, and now what? You like me again?"

"I've always liked you," Scorpius confessed, feeling ashamed of himself, "even before this trip."

"Then what the hell happened today?" he snapped, seemingly not the smallest bit appeased at the confession.

"I was jealous about you and Diver, you're all over each other all the time and I can hardly stand it," he blurted out quickly before he could stop himself.

"You're jealous about Oscar?" Albus scoffed, hardly believing it was true. He looked up into Scorpius' eyes and the vulnerability he saw there sobered him completely. No longer lost in the hurt he felt at Henry's actions, he quickly realized what Scorpius was asking him, and what the Slytherin had been thinking this whole time. He felt suddenly guilty for being so wrapped up in the lives of these ghosts that he didn't see how much he was hurting his friend. "I'm not with him. He likes me but…" He wasn't sure what to say now. Scorpius had practically confessed himself and he supposed now it was his turn, but he didn't find the surety of his feelings being returned the least bit comforting; he was still nervous.

"But?"

"But I told him no because I like someone else," Albus said finally, a deep blush creeping up his cheeks.

"So, you're not with Diver?" Scorpius asked just to be sure and Albus shook his head. "And you never were?"

"Well, we fooled around a little last year, but I had my heart set on you and I just couldn't…" Albus was breathing heavily and his pulse was racing as he openly confessed his feelings for Scorpius.

Scorpius' heart leapt and crashed against his rib cage; Albus Potter wanted him, had his _heart _set on him, in fact, and it felt brilliant. He wanted to kiss him and run his fingers through his hair, but he wanted to be sure Albus wanted it too. He moved over to him, crawling on his hands and knees to where the Gryffindor sat. He leaned in slowly to give Albus plenty of time to refuse him, but he hoped with all that he was that he wouldn't be denied again, he wasn't sure he would cope with another rejection.

Scorpius hadn't had much experience with kissing, but he was sure this was the best he would ever have in his life. It was he and Albus and no one else, no ghosts getting in the way, and no Oscar Diver either, they were both there because they chose to be. Albus was careful with this kiss; they were in no hurry because both knew it would be the first of many more to come.

As soon as their lips touched, Albus took control, he pecked Scorpius tenderly conveying the sincerity of his emotions and then his kisses lingered as his lips moved over the Slytherin's thin, pale ones. They breathed into each other and Albus began to climb back on to the bed, leaning into Scorpius and pushing him on his back. He straddled Scorpius' hips with a confidence the Slytherin had not been expecting, and leaned over him, their lips never straying far from each other.

Scorpius could feel Albus' erection straining against his own and as much as he wanted to keep going, he wondered whether he should be the sensible one and stop this before Albus got spooked. He wasn't sure what Albus meant by 'fooling around' with Diver, and while he was confident he never wanted to know, he also didn't want to push him too far.

"Albus, are you sure?" he panted, pulling away from him just far enough to speak, but Albus leaned in and silenced him with his mouth.

"_Shut up_, I've been wanting this for so long, so just shut up," Albus replied firmly, and with another fierce kiss he ground his hips into Scorpius'; pleasure shot up his spine and he swallowed Scorpius' gasp of surprise with his lips.

"Okay, shutting up now," Scorpius laughed shakily, and he willingly matched Albus' thrusts lifting his pelvis to him until they were both panting, moaning, and the other not to stop.

Scorpius came first, releasing his pleasure with a sharp cry as Albus clung to him tightly and thrust only twice more before climaxing himself. They both trembled in the after effects of their first shared orgasm with Albus weighing heavily on Scorpius' chest for a moment before the blond rolled him off and on to his side so that they were able to comfortably snuggle in together.

"That was not disappointing," Albus commented with a shy laugh.

"No, it was not," Scorpius agreed. "You're amazing, you know that?"

"I've been told once or twice," he quipped cheekily.

They settled into a comfortable, post-orgasmic silence for a while before Scorpius spoke again. "If Diver touches you again I will punch him in his pretty-boy face."

"I'll tell him to back off," Albus promised sincerely, he never liked Oscar touching him so much anyway. "Only your hands, and your lips, and your cock, I swear."

"You're damn right about that," Scorpius growled, purring his pleasure into Albus' midnight coloured hair. "I love that you just said cock," he said as an afterthought with a carefree laugh.

Albus laughed with him. "So you like dirty talk, do you?" he asked, teasing him slightly while also seriously jotting the fact down in his mind.

"And kisses."

"Scorpius likes dirty talk and kisses. Right, got it," he nodded, and he could see Scorpius grinning at the embarrassed pink blush on his cheeks. Albus just wriggled down further into the comfortable bed, settling into Scorpius' embrace.

"Hmm, we probably shouldn't fall asleep here," Scorpius commented with a yawn.

"Hmm."

"Albus?"

"Mmm."

"We should go," Scorpius repeated.

"Yeah, prolly," Albus yawned, but he only wrapped himself tighter around his long-awaited boyfriend as they both drifted off to sleep in the haunted room.

* * *

Aw, so they're finally together! I'm so happy for them, they really should be together. So cute. Can't get too caught up in the romance of it though, there is a mystery to solve after all.

What did you all think? Intriguing?


End file.
